Live To Tell
by Trilobite
Summary: What if Scott Woolley had tried to take over Walker, Inc. when Stanley was still alive? Set in Season 2.
1. Part 1

Part 1

The day had started off fairly normal for Will Truman, or at least, what he considered fairly normal. He wasn't sure how normal it was to drop by your clients' houses at nine in the morning, but Stanley Walker was his best and definitely richest client. Whether he would admit it or not, Will would have bent over backwards to do anything in his power to keep Stan happy with his law firm, even though Stan often assured him he would stay put with his current lawyer. Will was more than just a lawyer to him; he was also Stan's friend.

That's why, so early in the morning, he was standing on the doorstep of the Walker mansion, waiting for one of the many maids inside to let him in. With the way he frequented the place, he was almost willing to ask for a key as to not further bother the already overworked maids.

The door opened a few seconds later to reveal Rosario, who looked worn and too pissed off for such an early time, but smiled slightly upon seeing Will, "Mr. Will, good morning."

"Good morning, Rosario. Should I just assume you've had a long night or long morning?" Will asked, stepping inside when Rosario gestured him to do so.

She sighed heavily, heading over to the intercom on the wall, "You don't even want to know."

Will gave her a sympathetic look as he switched his briefcase to his other hand, "Is Stan up and ready to see me yet? I actually gave him a later time than now, but I thought if I came by earlier, we could finish earlier."

"He should be, but let me check in case he went back to sleep," Rosario said, pushing a button on the intercom console and leaning towards it. "Mr. Stan."

There was a short pause as she waited for a response.

"Yes, Rosario?" The man's disembodied voice finally came over the intercom.

"Mr. Will is here to see you if you're ready," she explained, glancing over at Will.

"Of course. Send him up to my room," Stan replied, before the intercom cut off.

Rosario released the button and turned to look at Will, gesturing towards the staircase in front of him, "He is ready to see you in his bedroom, which I'm sure you can locate by now."

Will nodded and climbed the stairs slowly, wondering off-handedly why Stan had not requested they meet in the man's office, as usual. He didn't think he had ever seen the master bedroom of the mansion, which wasn't surprising. They valued their privacy more than anyone he knew, and he knew they were several parts of the mansion he had never seen and probably never would.

As he neared the double doors leading to the master bedroom, he saw one of the doors cracked slightly. He knocked on the slightly open door and within seconds he heard Stan's voice permitting him entrance into the room.

He pushed the door fully open and stepped inside, his eyes widening slightly as he realized Stan was still in bed. Well, the man looked dressed and ready for their scheduled meeting, but he was sitting in his unmade bed beside his beloved wife, who was still sleeping soundly. As Stan caught Will gaze, he reached for a blanket and brought it up to her shoulders, cutting off his view of her scantily clad form, despite him being gay and his un-interest in her.

"Stan, why exactly did you have me come up here if you knew she was still asleep?" Will asked, making sure to keep his voice quiet as to not disturb her.

Stan sighed, glancing at his wife before running a hand over his slightly balding hair, "Because I wasn't quite finished here, but by the time you got here, I would be." He paused, standing up. "Rosario and I been up half the night trying to get her to sleep. She didn't feel too well and was too uncomfortable to allow herself to sleep. I think it might be the flu."

Will nodded in understanding and looked back to the woman in the bed, surprised at how innocent and small she looked when she wasn't throws insults at someone or teetering on her impossibly high Chanel heels.

As he watched her, she stirred restlessly and turned onto her side, finally facing Will. She moved a hand out and never opened her eyes, but Will knew she was at least somewhat awake.

"Stan," she murmured, her usually high-pitched voice sounding much lower and very tired.

Stan immediately crossed the room and joined her on the bed, moving her blanket back over her that she had already manage to kick off and kissing her forehead gently, "I'm here, sweetheart. Go back to sleep, Kare, you need it."

She mumbled incoherently, too quiet for either Will or Stan to hear, before curling up on herself and going still as she finally reclaimed her sleep.

Stan stood up slowly as to not jostle her and met Will near the door, gesturing to the younger man for him to follow. They walked down the hallway and into Stan's office, where they were already two cups of steaming coffee, courtesy of Rosario.

"Karen didn't look so good. Are you sure it's just the flu?" Will asked, sitting in a chair facing the desk.

"It has to be. She took a pregnancy test last night and we ruled that out pretty quickly," Stan said quietly, his voice tinged with sadness.

Will knew how much both Stan and Karen longed for a child together. Stan already had Mason and Olivia and he had experienced being a parent, but Karen hadn't been given that chance. Despite her addictions, sometimes dislike for children, and brash exterior, Will was sure Karen had the maternal extinct inside of her. It showed every time she was with Jack.

"Is she still drinking or taking her pills?" Will asked curiously. If she was, it might take longer for her to get better.

"Not since yesterday morning. I haven't let her near anything and even if I had, she can barely keep her eyes open, let alone keep a martini glass in her hand."

Will nodded, knowing it was probably true. In the few seconds Karen had awoken, she hadn't even opened her eyes or even acknowledge he was there. He had never seen her so drained and he knew she wasn't faking or that it was the result of her pills or alcohol.

"Anyway, let's get on with the meeting. You said you had something to tell me?" Stan asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Yes, I do. A man contacted me yesterday from Parade magazine who would like to interview you about Walker Inc. I told him I would talk to you first and then get back to him about the interview tomorrow," Will explained, pulling out a paper from his briefcase and sliding it across the desk to Stan.

Stan picked up the paper and looked at the information on the paper; some information about Parade magazine and the interviewer, Frank Wooley, "It looks good, but I've got another meeting tomorrow afternoon. We'd have to reschedule."

"What about Karen? Could she handle it?" Will asked.

"Of course," Stan said quickly, "She could, but I'm not about to let her do anything until she gets better."

"How about I keep the meeting planned for tomorrow and assume Karen will be there? You can let me know how she is tomorrow morning and if she can't go, I'll just cancel," Will said.

Stan nodded, "That could work. I'll call you tomorrow morning then and let you know how she is, but I have one requirement if she does the interview. I need you to be there at all times with her."

Will nodded, "Of course I can be."

Stan nodded, satisfied, "Good. I trust her with all aspects of the company, but she's not too experienced with interviews and people asking questions about the company. I want you to be there in case the interviewer decides to ask some personal questions that she shouldn't be answering." He paused, turning to see the clock for a moment before facing Will once more. "Listen, before Karen got sick, we were planning on inviting everyone to dinner tonight. So, unless you have plans, we'd love to see you tonight."

"Sure, I'd love to come," Will said.

"I've already asked Jack, but I haven't been able to get a hold of Grace. I think she might be out of the office, so could you please ask her whenever you manage to see her?" Stan asked.

"I'm going to be seeing her for lunch, so I'll ask her then. So, unless there is another crisis before dinner, I'll see you tonight," Will said, standing up, his briefcase in his hand.

Stan laughed, "I believe this is the fastest meeting we've ever had. We're getting better each time."

Will shook his head, amused, and reached out to shake Stan's hand, "We are. I'll see you tonight and hopefully Karen will be feeling better."

"I hope so too," Stan sighed as Will gave a sympathetic smile and left the office.

--- --- ---

Just as Stan had said, Will was also unable to reach Grace through out the day. He was relieved when he walked into her office and saw her sitting on her usual stool, her phone pressed up against her ear. As soon as he got within hearing range, however, she sighed and hung up, nearly jumping when she spotted Will by the door.

"Good, you're here. I thought you were going to be late," she said, grabbing her coat and her purse.

"You must have been out of the office all day. I haven't been able to reach you once yet," Will said, helping her into her coat.

"I was looking at an apartment. You know, since I'm a designer. Remember that?" Grace asked sarcastically, waving her hand in front of Will's face.

Will rolled his eyes, ignoring her, "Oh, by the way, in case you haven't figured it out, Karen isn't coming in because she's sick and Stan has invited us to dinner tonight."

"Yeah, I know. He just called. He told me about dinner, but why did he tell you about Karen?"

"I was over there this morning to talk to him. I saw Karen and she didn't look so good. Stan thinks she may have the flu, but whatever she has, it isn't good. He said both him and Rosario were up half the night with her."

Grace sighed, "Maybe the pills and alcohol are catching up with her."

Will shook his head, "No, it wasn't that. Stan said he hasn't let her near anything and just seeing her this morning got rid of any doubts I had. I have never seen her look so tired or just…out of it before."

Grace shrugged, slinging her purse over her arm as she opened the door, "Well, whatever it is, I hope she gets better soon. And we're going to arrive there separately tonight. I have to meet with someone pretty late tonight."

Will grinned, "Well, then I guess I'll just leave straight from work. C'mon, let's go to lunch; I'm starving."

--- --- ---

Will had spent most of his day trying to convince a client they would not lose their case. He found the man quite annoying and often had to excuse himself to keep from ringing the guy's neck, but the man was putting out millions of dollars to win his case. Will's boss would be furious with him if they had lost a high-paying client willing to pay anything to win a case.

Despite having doubts about whether or not he should have accepted Stan's dinner invitation, he had been looking forward to it all day. Anything to take his mind off his work was a welcome relief.

When he arrived at the mansion and Rosario let him in, he realized no one had even arrived yet, including Stan. He had arrived earlier than planned, but Rosario didn't seem to mind as she offered him a glass of wine.

"Thanks, Rosario," he said, accepting the glass, "Is Karen still asleep?"

"No, Miss Karen is in the kitchen if you'd like to speak with her," Rosario replied.

Will nodded his appreciation and headed down the hall to the large kitchen, a room he was certain Karen didn't even know existed. He knew she couldn't cook and since her chef cooked the food and Rosario served it, he didn't think she ever knew where it was in the mansion.

As he rounded the corner and stepped into the room, he nearly fell over in shock as he spotted Karen standing at one of the counters, making herself a cup of tea.

The usually flawless socialite, who usually donned the most expensive clothes a woman could buy, was wearing a simple pink tank top and loose-fitting pants he was sure were at least two sizes too big on her. Between her bare feet, which were usually encased in heels, her face free of makeup, and her hair up in a high ponytail, even though several pieces had fallen around her face and neck, he thought he might have crossed over into the Twilight Zone.

"Karen?" he called softly, not wanting to startle her.

She turned, her mug safely in her hands and smiled softly upon seeing Will, "What are you doing here so early, Wilma? Dinner isn't for an hour."

"I know. I somehow got the times mixed up or something; I'm not sure what happened. You look a little better than you did this morning," he commented, even though she still look tired.

"You haven't seen me today," she said slowly, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, I did. I was here this morning to talk to Stan and I saw you asleep. You didn't look too good, I have to admit. Stan told me you probably have the flu," he said.

She seemed to think for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, probably. I don't know what I have, but I just wish it would go away."

"Speaking of which," Will said, reaching into his pants pocket and pulling out a pill bottle, "I got you a little present. I swear by this medicine. If you take two tonight and two tomorrow morning, you should be feeling wonderful very soon."

Karen nodded, taking the bottle and squinting at the writing on it, "You just want me to get well by tomorrow afternoon. Stan told me about the interview tomorrow."

Will watched as she opened the bottle and took two out before downing them with a sip of tea. He was almost waiting for her to try to take more, but realized she was truly sick when she placed the bottle on the counter and turned back to him.

"So, you're going to do it if you get better?" he asked, taking a sip of his wine.

Karen shrugged, looking down at her mug, "Yeah, sure, honey. I mean, I have to do something for this company. I am Stanley's wife, after all."

"Wow, you must be insanely sick," Will said, somewhat relieved to hear Karen's trademark high-pitched giggle. She came towards him, probably on her way to the living room, when he stopped her with a hand on her arm. He moved the hand up to her forehead, before sliding it down to her cheek. "You're burning up."

"I know. I've had a fever all day. Rosario keeps giving aspirin, but it doesn't help," she said, looking slightly worried at the thought that nothing was helping.

"The medicine you just took should help. Within the hour your fever should be gone," he said, moving a stray piece of hair out of her face.

Karen looked up at him, cocking her head to the side in confusion, "Why are you doing this, Will? Why are you being so nice to me?"

Will smiled slightly, placing his wine glass down before grasping Karen's upper arms in his hands, pulling her to him, "Because, for once, it's good to see there really is a person inside there somewhere. You put up so many masks in public and hide behind so many designer outfits and shoes and makeup, that it's good to see you're just like everyone else. Let's not forget that it's never right to insult anyone when they have the flu. Being sick is punishment enough for you."

Karen smacked his chest playfully, but finally grinned, "Thank you, Wilma, and I truly mean it. So far, I've had Grace yell at Stan because I couldn't come in when she was busy and Rosario get fed up with me staying in bed all day."

"We all need to get our revenge, Anastasia, but not even you deserve that," Will said, winking at her.

Karen laughed at the mention of her alter ego's name before moving her hand down to entwine her fingers with Will's, "Let's go watch a movie or something. I'm bored and we still have an hour or so until dinner or anyone else arrives."

Karen led Will down the hall and into a room with a big-screen television and several large couches. Karen took a seat on the couch directly in front of the television and Will joined her a few seconds later after grabbing the remote from a side table. He tried to give it to Karen, but she refused, letting him choose the movie.

He finally decided on a romance movie and when he noticed Karen showed mild interest, he left it and leaned back against the couch, placing an arm around Karen. She leaned into him heavily and he finally grabbed a pillow from beside him and placed it in his lap, urging Karen to lay down, which she finally agreed to, making herself comfortable.

Will kept an arm around her waist as they watched the movie in silence. It wasn't more than twenty minutes later, when he realized she had fallen asleep and had turned to face him instead of the television screen. She had pressed her face into his stomach and Will forced himself to keep from laughing; he didn't want to wake her. She needed all the sleep she could get.

He reached for the remote and turned the movie off before placing it back on the table and leaning his head back on the couch, careful not too move to much to disturb the woman on top of him.

It was silent for several moments before he heard the front door open and then close. Knowing he hadn't heard Rosario's voice or the doorbell, he knew it could only be one person. Sure enough, he heard footsteps getting closer before Stan stepped into the room, pausing and smiling at the scene of his wife asleep on top of his friend.

"You know, when I invited you to dinner, I didn't invite you to my wife," Stan teased.

"I didn't think so either," Will replied flippantly, looking down at Karen.

Stan stepped closer and ran his fingers gently over Karen's forehead, brushing away stray pieces of hair and checking her temperature, "She's still warm. I told Rosario to check her constantly and keep the aspirin coming, although it looks like Karen got into her stash of pills. I found a bottle on the counter."

Will shook his head, "No, she didn't. I brought that over. I always take it when I'm sick and it works very quickly. She took some a little while ago, which should be working any time to lower her fever and if she takes some tomorrow morning, she should be feeling better later tomorrow."

"Good. How long has she been asleep?" Stan asked.

"Not long. Maybe a few minutes. Should we wake her for dinner?" Will asked.

Stan nodded, "Yeah. I'll see if she wants to eat or go back to sleep. Are you stuck under her or can you get out?"

Will smirked and held the pillow under Karen's head steady before sliding to side of the couch, proud when he laid the pillow flat on the couch and Karen didn't move a muscle. He stood up and Stan took his place, sitting above Karen's head.

"Karen? Karen, wake up, honey," Stan said softly, smoothing a hand down his wife's arm, which was cold to the touch, despite her fever. He was expecting the chills to kick in any time.

She stirred slightly and flipped over, her eyes finally opening and looking toward her husband's face above her, although her eyes took a moment to focus before she realized who was looking back at her. She drew her eyebrows together in confusion and sat up, propping herself up with an elbow when she felt another wave of dizziness and nausea hit her.

"How do you feel?" Stan asked, cupping her face and trailing his thumb over her cheekbone.

Karen blinked a few times, and finally noticed Will standing a few feet away, "The same. Maybe a little better, but not much. When did you get home?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Do you want to go upstairs and go back to sleep or do you want to chance eating something? Are you hungry at all?" Stan asked.

Karen sat up fully and turned to Stan, rubbing a hand over her eyes, "I think I'll join you for dinner. I'm still tired, but I haven't eaten anything in awhile."

Stan nodded, wrapping an arm around Karen and helping her up to her feet, keeping an arm around her when she swayed slightly, "Are you sure you're going to be all right? I don't want you falling asleep at the table and drowning in your soup."

Karen laughed, hanging onto Stan to keep from falling as he tried to lead her to the doorway, "Wow. I need to go change. I look like synthetic fabrics threw up all over me."

Will grinned, "Karen, we all know your outfit cost more than…the television set."

"Well, yeah, but who honestly wears this to dinner?" she asked rhetorically, gesturing to her outfit and scrunching her nose up in distaste. She finally caught her balance and let go of Stan, making her way out of the room and upstairs to make herself presentable.

"It seems she hasn't lost her amazing wit," Will commented dryly, once Karen was out of earshot.

Stan chuckled, "I don't think it's possible for her to lose that."

Will paused for a moment, turning serious as he looked at his friend, "Stan, I want to be completely honest with you right now. Do you remember the first time we met?"

Stan looked confused as he nodded slowly, "Yes, I do. It was at a dinner party of mine. Karen had invited Grace and a date and she ended up bringing you." He paused. "What are you trying to say, Will?"

"It's just…I remember meeting you for the first time and not two minutes later, you and Karen had a fight that I don't think anyone forgot about. I actually forgot what it was about, but it was fairly quiet and then Karen was screaming at you and you know how her voice carries," Will said, smiling slightly. "I wondered at that moment why you both married each other. Only seeing Karen when I visited Grace at work didn't help. We didn't like each other too much and I thought she was quite annoying. I had always thought she married you for your money and you married her because she was the perfect trophy wife. Even as a gay man, I can see that she's beautiful and not your typical blonde bimbo."

"I'm still confused. What are you saying?" Stan asked.

"What I'm saying is that, about a year ago, I finally realized you two are in love. Even Jack, who constantly watches over her, isn't even as protective of her as you are. If anything, I think you've demonstrated that perfectly today with her being sick," Will explained.

Stan shook his head, smiling slightly, "I'm just sorry if took you so long to realize that. I have to admit that I even had doubts about Karen when we were getting married. My first wife was with me for my money and after I realized it, I kicked her out. I truly loved Karen and I think it took me awhile to realize she loved me too and not just for my money. She isn't as shallow as she makes people think, you know?"

"Oh, I definitely know that," Will said, holding his hands up in surrender, "She's proved many times she's quite smart and that scares the hell out of me. A smart drunk?"

Stan laughed, cut off when the doorbell sounded throughout the mansion. He gestured to Will to follow him as they headed for the front door, where Rosario was just opening the door for Jack and Grace.

"Will, what are you doing here already?" Grace asked, seeing him standing beside Stan.

"I think I must have gotten the times mixed up. I didn't intend to be here so early, but I was," he said, shrugging.

"Thanks, Rosie," Jack chirped, as the maid took his jacket from him, as well as Grace's, "This is always my favorite place for fast food."

Stan rolled his eyes, amused, "But not so fast for our cook. Make yourself at home and I'll go see how dinner is coming along."

As he left the room, the remaining three headed into the living room and sat themselves upon the selection of couches, each spacing out to their own at separate corners of the room.

"How's Karen doing?" Grace asked.

"What do you mean how is she doing? What happened?" Jack asked, confused. He looked between Grace and Will as he waited for one of them to supply the necessary information.

"She has the flu. She'll be at dinner though. I brought over some medication for her so hopefully by then she'll feel a little better," Will explained, leaning back against the pillows behind him.

"She must have gotten sick pretty quickly. She was perfectly fine on Saturday when we went shopping," Jack said, looking sad.

Will had never seen anybody who were closer friends than Karen and Jack, except for possibly himself and Grace. He was almost certain, had Jack been straight, the two would've hooked up a long time ago. He knew for a fact Karen was attracted to Jack on some level, but even if Jack were straight, Will knew Karen wouldn't risk her marriage for a relationship or even a one-night stand with Jack. He also knew Jack would've found the perfect partner in Karen, had she been male. The two got along better than Jack had with any past boyfriends and even though he loved Karen more than anyone alive, he was still gay.

"Damn, I hope I don't catch it. You can't catch it from making out, can you?" Jack asked, completely serious.

Grace blinked, opening her mouth to try to reply, but nothing came out, so she closed it again and settled for staring dumbly at Jack while motioning to Will to try to answer. Will would've liked to take his cue, but he was trying too hard to hide his grin and bubbling laughter behind his hand.

"Do I even want to know why you were making out with my wife?"

Both Grace and Will breathed a sigh of relief of not having to risk answering Jack when Stan walked into the room, juggling three glasses of wine, one each for Grace and Jack and a third for himself.

"Hey, she made the first move," Jack said, smiling innocently.

"No, I didn't. You wanted to make out with me in the dressing room," Karen said, coming into the room, a fresh cup of tea in her hand.

Will was amazed at how quickly she could pull herself together and look presentable for company. She had looked fine to him before, but according to her standards, she was incredibly underdressed. Of course, compared to what she was currently wearing, she had been underdressed.

She was currently wearing a very low-cut pink top that had a slight sparkle to it, a plain black skirt, and her usual Chanel sling backs. She had applied makeup and clipped her hair up with a few pieces framing her face. Had Will not seen her earlier, he wouldn't have believed she had the flu.

"Still not my fault," Jack said forlornly to Karen, hiding a smile from his best friend.

Karen eyed him strangely for a moment before sitting beside her husband on the couch, "I'm not saying it was anyone's fault, honey, because I'm not sorry for it. I would be if you were straight, but…" She trailed off, waving a hand in Jack's direction.

"You clean up pretty nicely when you have to, Karen," Will commented, smirking slightly to show he was joking.

Karen pouted, turning sad eyes on him, although he knew they were just an act, "I don't have to clean myself up, Wilma. I'm just naturally beautiful."

Will pretended to choke on his wine as Grace leaned over from her couch and smacked him on the arm irritably before taking a long sip of her own wine, "Can't you even be nice to her when she's sick?"

"Oh, he has been, Grace. Believe me," Karen said, winking at Will.

Stan grinned, wrapping an arm around his wife before he looked up to the doorway just in time to see Rosario enter.

"Dinner is ready," she announced, leaving the room.

The group got up and headed to the dining room where covered dishes covered the large table as well as fresh glasses of wine for each of them, with the exception of Karen. They seated themselves at the table with Stan at the head, Jack and Karen to his right, and Will and Grace to his left.

"Oh my goodness," Grace said, eyeing all the food, her mouth practically watering.

"You'd think you'd never had dinner here before," Stan commented, grinning at Grace, who immediately began piling food on her plate well before anyone else could even grab for anything.

Karen's nose wrinkled as the different smells of the various dishes hit her and she began to feel nauseous once more. She took a deep breath and managed to keep herself under control as she turned slightly, "Rosie!"

"Right here, mami," Rosario said, coming into the dining room, a bowl of soup in her hand. She set it down in front of Karen, who smiled at her gratefully before picking her spoon up and tasting it cautiously, surprised when it seemed to agree with her and her nausea.

"Okay, Kare?" Stan asked, glancing at his wife to make sure she didn't need anything else before he sent Rosario on a break. When she nodded, not looking up at him, he waved a hand at Rosario, for which the older woman smiled gratefully at and made a quick exit.

"I just love how Rosario seems to appreciate you much more than Karen," Grace commented playfully, looking at Stan, and completely missing Karen's hard glare in her direction.

"That would be a result of my wonderful other half tormenting her and keeping her up all night," Stan said, smoothing a hand down Karen's back when she choked and looked at him incredulously.

"I get the feeling I'm not loved around here," Karen said, taking a sip of her tea and clearing her throat.

"Wow, you must be sick, Karen. I was only playing with you," Grace said, feigning shock.

"And not in the good way," Jack added in, popping a carrot into his mouth, pausing slightly when he saw Will and Grace eyeing him strangely. "What?"

Grace shook her head, "I don't even want to know. You're the only ones who could get away with making out and possibly even more with the husband killing both of you."

"The joys of being gay," Jack said wistfully, leaning over to kiss Karen's cheek.

"Hey, I'm gay and you don't see me making out with Grace every chance I get," Will said.

"And believe me, we're both mourning that fact," Grace muttered, stuffing her mouth full of food once more, ignoring the small talk coming from the rest of the table. She was too involved in eating all of the wonderful dishes surrounding her.

"So, guys, you never did answer me. Can you catch the flu from making out?" Jack asked.

Karen raised an eyebrow, but never looked up from her soup as she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud, "Poodle, of course you can. This isn't like clueless teenager girls thinking they can get pregnant from kissing. This is a virus we're talking about here."

Jack gasped, bringing his closed fist to his chest dramatically, "Oh my God! I can't believe you! You're going to get me sick and make me look all pale and gross." He paused, sending a sweet smile to Karen, "But you look fabulous though."

Karen sighed, rolling her eyes, "Good save, Jackie. And for the last time, it wasn't my idea to make out and could we please drop this subject?"

"Yes, please," Stan said flatly, although he turned an amused look at Jack, who simply shrugged and went back to eating.

The dinner had passed by pretty quickly and the group had moved into the living room, even Karen, who despite feeling terrible, was bored and didn't want to go to bed so early in the evening. She ditched her heels and stayed curled up against Stan while her three friends took the couch across from them.

"You really should go to bed, Karen. You don't look so good," Grace said, smiling when she realized what she had said, "I'm sorry, that came out wrong, but you really should be getting some rest."

Karen nodded, closing her eyes briefly before raising her head from Stan's shoulder, "I know, but I get bored up there by myself, honey. Besides, if I fall asleep, I already have a pillow."

"Good to know my wife thinks I'm good for something," Stan muttered, moving his arm around Karen so she sunk into his side comfortably.

"I can still call off the meeting with the interviewer if I need to," Will said, leaning his elbow on the armrest before lowering his head to rest his chin on his fist. He glanced over at Karen, who seemed to be fighting off sleep as her eyes kept closing.

"I should be fine to do it. A few hours with an interviewer shouldn't kill me or get me any worse than I already am," she said.

Stan ran his palm over her forehead, pushing her hair back in the process, "It feels like your fever dropped, probably thanks to Will's medicine. If you don't feel any better tomorrow morning or the same, call Will and he'll cancel the meeting. I know how awful it is to try to have a meeting when you're sick."

"I know, Stan, I know," she muttered, sighing heavily as she closed her eyes once more and fell silent.

"Maybe we should go. I mean, it looks like Karen needs all the sleep she can get and I'm sure you have a million things to do," Grace said, smiling slightly.

Stan waved her off with his free hand, "Of course not, Grace, don't be silly. Karen could sleep through a herd of charging bulls and I have nothing to do relating to work. I'm enjoying your company and the possibility that I'm not the only here to take care of Karen."

"Stan, I can take her up to your room if you want. She might be comfortable where she is now, but she'll be sore later and wishing for a bed, but being too tired to get to one," Jack suggested.

"Sure, if you want to," Stan said, carefully removing his arm from around his wife as Jack stood up and came to stand in front of them.

He bent down, getting his arms around Karen, without her making a sound or moving, and lifted her up and off the couch. She was so light in his arms and shifted her gently to make sure he didn't drop her before turning to the doorway.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," he threw over his shoulder at his three friends.

He maneuvered himself and Karen up the stairs and into her bedroom, nearly tripping over a misplaced pair of her heels which Rosario seemed to have missed. He placed her gently on the closest side of the bed before she moved slightly and turned to her side, her eyes opening.

"Jack?"

"What do you need, Karebear?" he asked, kneeling down to see her face.

"Something to sleep in," she said, smiling at his confused look.

His eyes narrowed before he laughed to himself and located the same outfit she had been wearing earlier, the tank top and loosely fitting pants and brought it to her. She didn't even bother getting out of bed as she changed, simply moving around to get her top and skirt off and slip into the other outfit.

"All set?" Jack asked, looking down at her.

"Stay with me until I fall asleep, Jackie," she requested quietly, reaching for his hand and squeezing slightly.

Jack knew it wouldn't be that long until she did fall asleep, but he climbed over her to the other side of the bed anyway. He wrapped an arm around her and trailed the fingers of his other hand through her hair, pulling the single pin out that was keeping her hair up. It fell to the pillow, surrounding her head like a dark halo. Jack was mesmerized by the stark contrast between her dark hair and the perfectly white pillow and kept watching it as he sat up and reached for the blankets, drawing them around Karen, whose arm was cold to the touch, now that her fever had broke.

"How do you feel, Kare?" he asked softly, in case she was already asleep, even though he already knew she wasn't.

"Better than before. I was miserable this morning. I think Will's medication really helped, even though I still feel sick," she answered, turning in his arms to face him.

"You're going to; you have the flu. It will take a few days to get rid of," he said. "And I better not catch it because I made out with you, although it would give me a good reason to miss work."

Karen giggled as Jack kissed the tip of her nose and then her lips softly. Her eyes closed and it was only a matter of minutes before he felt her breathing even out and he knew she had fallen asleep.

He carefully pulled away from her and got out of the bed, making sure to close the bedroom door before he headed back downstairs to join his friends, who looked as if they hadn't moved since he left them.

"Is she asleep?" Stan asked.

Jack nodded, taking a seat on the couch beside Grace, "Yeah, she's asleep. She did say she was feeling a little better, so that's a good thing."

"Very good. As I said, that medicine is the best thing in the world when you're sick. It cures anything and everything. I'm willing to bet it cures things you don't even have yet," Will said, stopping when he felt Grace smack his arm, "Okay, I'm rambling, but there's no need to hit."

"Stan, we really should be going. We all have work early tomorrow and you have a wife to keep company upstairs," Grace said, standing up.

"Of course, that's fine," Stan said, getting to his feet.

"Thank you for a wonderful evening," Will said, shaking Stan's hand. "I guess I'll be hearing from either you or Karen to let me know whether or not to keep the interview."

Stan nodded, "Of course. We'll see how she feels in the morning."

He walked his guests to the door, shook Jack's hand, and hugged Grace before they headed out to the street to catch a cab. He made sure they were safely in the cab before he shut the door and locked it, heading upstairs.

"Goodnight, Mr. Stan," Rosario called, passing him in the hallway.

"Oh, goodnight, Rosie, and thank you for staying up last night. Karen seems to be fine for now so get a good night's sleep. If she keeps going like this, I'm going to need to up your bonus," he replied, smiling.

Rosario nodded, returning the smile, "As long as she's fine."

Stan watched her head towards the stairs before he opened the door to his bedroom and stepped inside and shut it quickly, not wanting the hallway lights to seep in. He made his way to the bathroom and changed for bed before he slid into the bed, careful to jostle the woman on the other side of it.

He got comfortable and turned onto his side, wrapping an arm around Karen and placing a soft kiss on her bare shoulder before he readjusted the blankets around them and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately. 


	2. Part 2

Part 2

"Will! I can't find my sketchbook and I'm already late!" Grace shouted, turning the apartment upside down for the only required object she needed that morning.

"Late for what? You're your own boss and even if Karen was showing up today, she'd be late too," Will called back, stepping into the living room while adjusting his tie. He grabbed his jacket from the couch and put it on quickly, already heading for the steaming coffee in the kitchen.

"I have a meeting. Remember that guy who was paying me double just to get his bedroom done in time for his wedding? I'm supposed to show him the sketches today and he's supposed to approve them so we can finish by next week," Grace explained in one breath as she threw her purse on the couch and sighed, looking around helplessly.

"If your head wasn't attached…" Will trailed off, his cup halfway to his mouth, "Oh my God. I sound like my mother."

"Will, I can't think about your mother right now! I'm having a crisis, in case you can't tell!" Grace yelled, tangling a hand in her hair and growling in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Gracie, but that's why you should keep track of your work," Will replied, opening the refrigerator for creamer, but found something completely different. "Tell me something, Grace. Do you always chill your sketches before you take them to work with you?"

Grace squealed in excitement as Will held up her sketchbook in annoyance, "Oh, Will, I love you. So, lunch today right? We haven't gone out together in a long time. I mean, we did yesterday, but it doesn't count. The food was terrible."

"And we still can't. Unless Karen or Stan calls me this morning, telling me she can't make it, I'll be with her and that interviewer at that time. Stan had requested me to not leave her alone with the guy. She's not that experienced with interviewers and he's afraid the guy might ask her something a little too personal about the company," Will explained.

Grace groaned, "Oh, all right, but tomorrow can we please try to have lunch together? I don't care if we even go out to a restaurant. I'm getting desperate for good food."

Will laughed, taking a long gulp of his coffee, "Yes, I promise. I'll make sure we have lunch together tomorrow."

Grace beamed at him, kissing him on the cheek before she was halfway to the door, waving a hand behind her, "Great! See you tonight!"

Will watched the closed door for a moment before he shook his head, finished off his coffee, grabbed his briefcase, and headed out of the apartment. He caught a cab and within fifteen minutes, he was on his way up to his office. He rounded the corner to his office and stepped inside, shocked to see Karen sitting at his desk, leaning her chin on her folded arms.

"And here I thought I was the one who was late," Karen commented offhandedly.

"So I see you're feeling better," Will said, ignoring her previous comment.

She did look a lot better than she had the previous night. It looked as if she had her color back and he knew it wasn't possible to fake it with makeup. She looked like her old, coiffed self, dressed up to perfection and looking like every bit of the socialite she was.

"You're medicine did wonders for me, Wilma. Thank you!" she gushed, clapping her hands together and bouncing slightly.

Will smirked, "You know, you really shouldn't do that when you're wearing such a low-cut shirt."

Karen looked confused for a moment before she saw Will pointed glance at her breasts. She sighed heavily, crossing her arms over her chest, which didn't seem to help matters much. She stood up and went across to the other side of his desk, perching herself on the edge of it and crossing her legs.

"Are you sure you're gay, Wilma? You seem to have a fascination with my boobies," she accused, pointing a well-manicured finger at him.

"Coming back to reality…or just back from whatever trip you're on, let's try to act like normal human beings for now, okay?" he asked, exasperated.

She nodded, waving a hand at him vaguely before fetching a nail file out of her purse and went to work on her nails, "Fine. I'll behave."

Will paused, eyeing her carefully, "You're sober for once, aren't you? You haven't been drinking and I really doubt you've taken any pills, right?"

Karen was still for a moment before she nodded, "Yes, I am. Stan won't let me touch a drop of alcohol while I'm still sick and on whatever pills you gave me, even though I practically take every other pill known to man with alcohol. I've never wanted it more than now when I feel like dying."

"Karen, I told you before, if you were still feeling bad and weren't up to doing this interview, you could have just called me and I would've cancelled it. I wasn't expecting to find you here or even get a call from you or Stan yet."

"I do still feel bad, Wilma, but who knows when I'll be back to normal. For once, I wanted to do something for Stan that he would be proud of me for," Karen said, slightly sad.

"Hello, Karen, do you not know your husband at all?" Will asked incredulously, coming up to her and gripping her upper arms in a light grip. "Listen to me very carefully, okay? I have never seen a husband more proud of a wife before like he is with you. You couldn't do anything wrong in his eyes. Even if you did mess up this interview as much as possible, he would still be as in love with you as he is now and forget all about it, especially since I know that pout of yours can get you anything you want from him."

Karen finally cracked a smile and lowered her head, but Will placed a finger under her chin and forced her to meet his eyes.

"Why do you do this to yourself, Karen? Stan has never given you a reason to make you doubt his love for you, so why do you constantly look for ways to impress him? Believe me, just breathing impresses him enough," Will said.

Karen shrugged, sighing, "I don't know. Even as long as I've been married to Stan, I still feel…insecure sometimes. I was shocked to begin with when he showed any interest in me whatsoever because he was rich and I wasn't. I felt like he should have a wife half his age, blonde, with no brains in her head."

"But you're nothing like that," Will interjected, gaining a small smile from Karen.

"Why do you think I was so confused?" she asked, laughing softly before turning serious once more. "I guess, every so often, my mind seems to revert back to when we were still dating and I was so afraid of making him look bad or doing something that would drive him away."

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe he didn't want a rich snob as a wife? I still think marrying him has changed you because you wouldn't have afforded anything you have on your own, but he's good for you and you for him," Will said.

Karen grinned at him, "You know, despite my flu symptoms and not being drunk, I feel a lot better. It seems I have something else to thank you for, Wilma."

"If we keep this up, we may actually convince people we don't hate each other," Will said, winking at her.

A knock interrupted whatever Karen's response would have been and they both looked up to see a tall man looking at them, smiling slightly.

"Hello. I'm Frank Woolley from Parade magazine," the man said.

"Yes, hello. I'm Will Truman, Mrs. Walker's lawyer. And Parade reader since 1978. Well, I've been -- I've been throwing it out of my Sunday paper since 1978," Will said, laughing slightly.

"Oh, thank you," Woolley said, glancing at Karen, who had moved back to sit as Will's desk once more.

"I use mine to wrap fish," Karen said happily, glancing up at the very tall man in front of her. She noticed he was even taller than Will; she couldn't wait to stand next to him and see if he was as tall as he looked from her sitting position.

"You're too kind, you're too kind. Mrs. Walker, Frank Woolley," Woolley said, shaking Karen's hand, "I'm so excited that you're going be the first interview for my new hard-hitting shoot-from-the-hip column, Always Woolley."

Will raised an eyebrow, looking at Woolley, "Always Woolley? Wouldn't Always Frank be better?"

Woolley shook his head, smiling slightly, and sat down in a chair in front of Will's desk, "What would that mean?" He paused, when Will didn't answer. "Mrs. Walker, I know you're busy, so let's get right to the nitty-gritty. Now, I hope you that some of my questions are a little bit, uh, Woolley."

Karen giggled softly while Will looked confused, "Now, you see, another place where "Frank" just as good, if not better. You know?"

Woolley looked back at Will, looking just as confused, "Nothing you say makes sense to me. Mr. Truman, do you need to be here for this?"

"Oh, I know it's just a puff piece, but I thought I best sit in, just in case there's any legal questions. Pretend I'm not here," Will said, pulling a chair up and sitting directly next to Woolley, who looked mildly uncomfortable at the other man's closeness.

"Oh, hey, Wilma. When did you get here?" Karen asked, playing along, but sounding bored.

"See? It's easy," Will said triumphantly, gesturing to Karen, and proud when he caused a round of laughter in the room. "I thought you might need a photo of Karen for the article."

He handed Woolley a medium-sized photograph, which the other man took and stared at for a second before turning to Will, holding the photo out, "This is a photo of you."

"Is it? Oh. Would you look at that? Why don't you just keep that in case you might want to do a sidebar about her lawyer. You know, "Where There's a Will, there's a Way," Will said, laughing. He completely missed the odd looks he was receiving from both Karen and Woolley.

Woolley laughed slightly, "Gee, I hate to be that guy, but, I'm just not getting you. But you know what? A sidebar, that's not a bad idea. Could you give me a 500-word bio on you?"

Will beamed at the other man, " Well, the ones I have printed up were all 750 words. But I can make some trims."

He jumped to his feet and was out of his office in a matter of seconds, leaving Karen and Woolley alone, something he had promised Stan he wouldn't do. The remaining two didn't seem to mind as Woolley grinned at the woman in front of him, eyeing her subtly.

"Now let's you and I talk about something fun," he said, giving her an odd look.

"Hit me, Stretch," Karen said, leaning back in her chair, raising an eyebrow.

"Okay, how about this one? Where's the kookiest place that you've ever taken the company jet that wasn't work-related?" Woolley asked, leaning forward slightly in anticipation.

Karen laughed, shaking her head in amusement, "Wait a minute. I see what you're trying to do. You are trying to get me to take you to lunch in Barbados, and it has worked! Let's go! You can conduct the rest of your interview on the way there."

She stood up and grabbed her purse, coming around the side of the desk to join Woolley, who had also stood. She had been right; he was very tall next to her. Her new three-inch Prada heels didn't help in the slightest.

"Okay, but only if you promise on the way to tell me your nuttiest insider trading stories," Woolley said, smiling slightly.

Karen laughed, slinging her purse over her arm, "I've got some doozies!"

--- --- ---

"Stan! Stanley?" Karen called, walking into the mansion. She didn't receive an answer from her husband or anyone else. She sighed heavily and headed upstairs to her bedroom, leaving the door open behind her as she headed into the bathroom, seeking out the pills Will had given her. She found them fairly quickly where they had been resting on the counter beside the sink and immediately took two out of the bottle and swallowed them dry.

She stared into the mirror in front of her, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, even under the concealer she had already applied. The expected cause was her lack of sleep, but she couldn't seem to stay asleep for more than two hours without waking up with nausea. The current medicine she was taking took care of the overall pain and fevers, but they hadn't seemed to work on her nausea or bringing her appetite back.

Stan had tried countless times the previous night to get her back to sleep when she woke each time, but she had brushed him off and told him to go back to sleep. Her persistence had won out and his patience had worn out before he finally left her alone and went to sleep. She had spent the rest of the night in and out of sleep in one the guest rooms as to not bother her husband.

She'd managed to fake feeling better that morning to make sure Stan wouldn't cancel her interview, which had worked, but she felt even worse. In a way, she wished she had let him cancel it.

She was brought out of her reverie when she heard a low jingle. Sighing, she reached under her skirt and pulled out her garter phone, "Karen Walker's panties."

"Karen! Where the hell have you been? I've been calling the mansion for hours now and Rosario said there's been so sign of you. Why did you leave the interview?" Will asked, shouting at the other end, even though the reception was excellent from both sides.

Karen cringed and held the phone away from her ear for a moment, "I just got back to the manse. I didn't leave the interview…I moved it to a more decent locale."

"You were supposed to let me know to meet up with you because I'm your lawyer. Where exactly did you take the meeting to?" Will asked, sounding irritated.

She sighed, knowing he wouldn't like the answer, "Barbados…for lunch."

"You what? Karen!"

"I know, I know, Wilma. I wasn't thinking clearly; I know that now, but it seemed like a good idea to begin with. I did get the interview done though," she replied, sounding hopeful.

Will sighed heavily, "Karen, I wouldn't have had to been there, except Stan ordered me to be. If I wasn't, he would've rescheduled so he could have done the interview."

Karen paused, "What? What are you talking about?"

"He trusts you so much, Karen, but he knew you weren't experienced with interviews and being asked questions about the company. He wanted me there in case you answered something too personal for the public to know."

"Oh my God. He let me do this even when he didn't trust me?" Karen asked softly, sounding hurt.

"No, don't think of it like that. Please don't be mad at him. He just wanted me to look after you and make sure you didn't do anything wrong. In a way, it was a learning experience, but I guess not anymore," Will said sympathetically.

"I'm sorry, Will. I just got so wrapped up in…something and before I knew it, we were on a jet heading to Barbados," Karen said, moving into her bedroom and laying down on the bed.

"Karen, I'm not mad. I was just worried about you since you seemed to have disappeared from my office when I got back," Will said, trying to calm her. "What did he ask you?"

"Various things, really. What the company supports, what it doesn't, how Stan started the company. Woolley said he would send you a transcript of everything he asked me and my answers before he has anything published," Karen said, tracing patterns on her ceiling with her eyes.

"I'm sure Stan would want to see it as well. I would also tell him that you now know about him wanting me with you during the interview; he won't be mad. I'm not mad at you, Karen, if that's what you're thinking," Will said, his voice growing quiet during the last part.

"Thanks, honey," she replied, just as quietly, pushing a button of her cell phone to turn it off. She slipped it back into her garter belt before leaning back on the bed, but high enough up on the pillows where she couldn't mess up her hair. She already looked bad enough; she didn't need bad hair to top it off.

She had only been there a few minutes when Stan walked in, noticing her eyes were closed. He walked up to her and placed a hand on her arm, causing her to gasp and jerk away as her immediate reflexes came into play.

She placed a hand to her chest, taking a deep breath, "Stan, don't do that. You nearly scared me to death."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he apologized, leaning down to kiss her lips softly. "What are you doing home? I thought you'd still be with Will and the interviewer."

"I was with the interviewer, but not with Will," she said, noticing Stan's shocked look, even as he tried to hide it. "Honey, I know that you told Will to stay with me during the interview. He told me a few minutes ago."

"Well, you obviously didn't listen as you said you weren't with Will," Stan said, trying to control his irritation.

Karen sighed, knowing to expect her husband would feel this way, "I didn't know then. I took the interviewer to Barbados for lunch and we had the interview on the jet."

"You took him to Barbados? He's going to be the talk of his office tomorrow," Stan commented, reaching to undo his tie and throwing it on top of the dresser.

"I knew you were going to act like this! Will told me to tell you that I knew. He said that you wouldn't be mad, but I knew you would be!" Karen yelled, ignoring her nausea and getting off the bed, heading for the bathroom.

"I'm mad at the fact that you don't even know this guy and you take him to Barbados for lunch and alone in a jet," Stan countered.

"You are too protective of me. I know how to take care of myself, Stan! I had to learn when I became your wife!" Karen shouted, turning to face the mirror once more, ignoring her reflection staring back at her.

She closed her eyes and wasn't surprised to feel Stan's arms slip around her waist from behind, "What do you mean by that?"

"I remember the first party you took me to. I was lost among all those rich women and their husbands and then there I was. I was just your girlfriend at the time and those women were horrible to me," Karen said, shaking her head. "They taunted me about the fact that I wasn't rich like them or blonde or perfect. At that very moment, I realized to survive being your wife and having to go to all those parties and dinners with you, I'd have to be able to protect myself. You wouldn't always be around."

"I don't understand why you care anymore. Those women might have acted like the bitches they are, but half of them are broke now that their husbands have divorced them and the other half are melting from all the plastic surgery they have gotten," Stan paused, glad when he got a small smile out of Karen. "I remember you telling me how badly you wanted to be like those women; to be the life of the party, to be beautiful, to be as outgoing as they were. Karen, you have become all that and more. Except for maybe being beautiful because you were even more than that before I came around."

"I guess, that in some ways, I still feel like I did at that first party. Believe me, honey, I know none of those women would dare say a word to me now, but I can still remember what it feels like to be insulted by them," Karen said, shrugging helplessly when she didn't know how to continue.

Stan turned her in his arms so she was finally facing him and he didn't have to watch her through the mirror, "I'm sorry if I'm too protective of you at times, but I know how the real world is out there. I know you've been through so much, more than other people, but I also know there are parts of you that are quite naïve and vulnerable. I'm afraid someone is going to see that and take advantage of you and I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's what I believe."

Karen gave a short, bitter laugh, "No, no, you're right. I do feel lost sometimes and it scares me because I can't be fearless and put up the façade I usually do."

"Which I hate when you do. Putting up that façade in public is fine because everyone does that, but I hate when you put one up with me," Stan said.

"I know," Karen sighed softly, "Sometimes I do get carried away and forget to take down the mask I put up and I'm sorry." She paused. "Are you mad at me about today with the interviewer?"

"No, sweetheart, of course not. I was worried about you, but I'm so glad you're safe now," he murmured, wrapping her in a tight hug and kissing the top of her head. He left her go a minute later and lifted her up onto the bathroom counter before leaning down to kiss her.

She held him back, shaking her head, "Honey, I don't want to get you sick."

"If I haven't already caught what you have, I never will," he reassured, leaning down to kiss her once more. This time, she didn't push him away and welcomed his kiss warmly, bringing her hands up to rest on his arms that held her.

Stan trailed a hand up her thigh, moving the fabric her skirt up, but veered off to go up her flat stomach and to the buttons of her blouse. She moaned softly into the kiss as he undid the two top buttons, including the shirt she wore was already quite low-cut. His fingers ghosted over the tops of her breasts and she gasped, leaning into his touch.

"Stan, we're in the bathroom," Karen managed to say as his hand trailed up her thigh once more. She uncrossed her legs and she instinctively spread them as Stan's hand got higher.

"Oh my goodness!"

Stan pulled away from Karen at lightning speed, but made sure to stay in front of her until he realized who was standing in the doorway behind them. He spotted Jack standing there, looking confused, and he sighed, turning back to Karen, who was still trying to do up her buttons on her shirt.

"Jackie, what are you doing here?" Karen asked, hopping off the counter and checking her hair in the mirror before turning to her best friend.

"I was hoping to persuade you to take me shopping. I need something sparkly to wear for this weekend," Jack said, smiling convincingly in Karen's direction.

"Poodle, I think your mind must be all bright lights and sequins," Karen commented, rolling her eyes.

"Whoa! She thinks I have Las Vegas in my head!" Jack said happily, gasping. "No wonder I dream of being a showgirl and dating a Chippendale dancer. I've always wondered if anyone else could see that."

Karen opened her mouth to respond, but found she had nothing to say to Jack's confession. Her life was beginning to feel like a badly written sitcom.

"What do you mean for this weekend? What's happening this weekend? Why wasn't I told about it?" Karen asked, looking accusingly at Jack.

"That's because I haven't had a chance to tell you yet, Karebear," Stan interrupted, "I figured everyone could use a vacation, including me, so I planned a vacation or our yacht for the weekend and maybe a few days after."

Karen glared at her husband, throwing her hands up in frustration, "And why didn't you tell me this sooner? Now I really do have to go shopping and quick. C'mon, Jackie!"

She was already out of the door before Jack could even think to follow her, leaving Stan in the bathroom, staring after his wife and Jack in amusement.

--- --- ---

"Yes! Yes, I can get this finished by next week if you let me have the time to. I can't finish your bedroom if you never let me in it. Yes, I can be there tomorrow morning. Good-bye."

Grace sighed heavily and slammed her phone down, massaging her temples as she felt another headache coming on. She moved her sketches aside and nearly groaned aloud as she found another message she had failed to respond to.

She was already missing Karen's presence in the office. Despite Karen's sometimes ditzy personality, she really was helpful in answering the phone and taking messages for Grace. Most of all, Grace was missing Karen's ability to make her calm down and laugh when she was at her most stressed. Grace felt crazy for admitting it, but she really missed Karen. She couldn't wait until her assistant was feeling better and return to work, or whatever Karen considered work.

She grabbed for her mug, grimacing when she realized the remaining coffee inside was now cold as it had been sitting there all day. She sighed and glanced at the clock before grabbing her purse and keys and heading for the door. As she reached for the knob, the door swung open and the knob ended up in her stomach.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry," Will said as he came inside and rushed towards her.

"Whoa. Can you like knock or give me some warning before you come bursting through the door?" she asked, pressing a hand to her stomach.

"Are you okay?" he asked, trying to lift the bottom of her top to see if she was seriously injured.

"I'm fine. I'll be a little bruised there, but no major organs were hit in the blow. I hope," she said, taking a deep breath and noticing a twinge on pain, but nothing too serious. "What are you here for? I thought you were supposed to sit in on Karen's interview."

"I was, but she had other plans. She left with him for lunch in Barbados. She's back at the mansion already and I'm just now going to lunch. Can I interest you in some Mexican food?" he asked, holding up a large paper back with a hopeful smile.

Grace grinned, "I was just about to go out, but yes, I would love some Mexican food. Thank you."

Will set out the various dishes he had gotten while Grace picked up two waters from the mini refrigerator and came back to her makeshift desk, clearing away various sketches and fabric books so the two had room to eat.

"So, how is your latest project coming along?" Will asked, taking a bite of a taco.

"Frustrating. I want to wring this guy's neck. You know the one I said needs to have his bedroom done before his wedding?" She paused at Will's nod. "Yeah, well, this guy has only let me into his bedroom once to see the room and make sketches. He needs it done by Thursday and he won't let me into it because he keeps telling me he has to change the sheets because him and his fiancé--"

"Yeah, Grace, I'm eating," Will interrupted, looking disgusted before picking up a forkful of guacamole, "Is this too hot?"

He raised it to Grace, who ate in and immediately starting fanning her mouth and breathing heavy, reaching for her water bottle, even though she knew it would be of no help. She gulped down about half the bottle before setting it down and looking over at Will.

"I think I'm sweating. The sun's surface is cooler than my mouth is right now," she choked out, reaching for a tortilla to make the hot stinging cease.

"So, it's okay then?" Will asked.

"Yeah. The new recipe is crap because it used to be a lot spicier," she commented, reaching for the container of rice.

Will shrugged and dipped the end of his taco into the guacamole and took a bite, not noticing the spiciness Grace had nearly died of a moment ago. He looked down at the desk and picked up a small, yellow piece of paper.

"I think you forgot a message," he said, handing it to Grace.

She groaned, sticking it to the top of her phone, "I keep finding all of these. I am so behind on my messages right now it isn't even funny. Despite Karen being utterly useless at anything else here, she does know how to answer phones and take messages for me."

"Oh, you did get Stan's weekend invitation, right?" Will asked.

Grace nodded, swallowing quickly before taking a sip of her water, "Yeah, he's already called here. We get three or four days on his yacht and the only thing we're required to do is have fun? Of course I'll be there!"

Will laughed, "It seems he likes to spoil his wife's friends as much as he spoils his wife."

"Better believe it," Grace snorted, groaning once more as she heard her cell phone jingle. She grabbed it from her purse, eyeing it oddly when she realized it was a text message and not a phone call, like she was expecting. She pushed a button and the message was displayed on the screen, but as soon as she saw it, she frowned, staring at it.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"A text message from Jack. It says 'Baby bear needs mama bear' and you really don't need to explain that if you don't want to," Grace said quickly.

Will raised an eyebrow, taking the phone from Grace's hand, "That can't be right. That's usually his message to me when there's a gay emergency, but why is he sending it to you?" He paused. "Wait. I told him my cell phone was broken and I'd be getting it fixed tomorrow. He probably knows I'm usually with you anyway."

"Gay emergency? Do you two have your own 911 number too?" Grace asked sarcastically.

Will sent her an annoyed look, handing her cell phone back and grabbing the office phone, dialing Jack's number from memory. It only rang three times before he heard Jack's voice on the other end.

"Hey, Jack, it's me. What the emergency?" he asked, slapping Grace's hand away when she reached for the remainder of his taco.

"I just met the perfect guy! He's gorgeous and sweet and everything else, but there's a problem!" Jack replied, sounding insanely worried.

"Well, what's the problem? He doesn't have enough money to support your lifestyle?" Will asked, glancing over at a giggling Grace.

"No! He's fallen for Karen, not me! He's cute and he's not gay. What do I do?!" Jack shouted. Will was certain, had he been there, Jack would have been on the verge of tears and hidden in a corner somewhere.

He managed to keep his laughter under control for the moment, "Okay, I'm on my way. Where are you?"

"Bergdorf's. And hurry, Will!" Jack said, disconnecting the call.

Will placed the phone back on its cradle and sighed heavily, turning to Grace, who was watching him curiously, "I'm going to go meet up with him. He found a new guy, who says is just perfect, but the guy likes Karen more than Jack. I swear, why am I always the one he runs to when he has a problem?"

"Because I'm not gay and Karen is…well, she's not straight, that's for sure, but she can barely handle her own problems, let alone someone else's. Plus, you're his best friend, Will. You're sort of required to help out with every crisis he seems to have…every second of the day," Grace said, falling into thought.

Will shook his head, wondering why he was thinking Karen was his sanest friend at the moment, "I'll see you tonight. I can pick up some movies on the way home and we can just stay at home tonight, okay?"

Grace nodded, finally reaching for the remainder of Will's taco, certain he wasn't going to finish it, "That's fine. I didn't feel like going out anyway."

Will kissed the top of her head on the way out of the door, "Have fun!"

Grace rolled her eyes and finished off the taco just as her phone rang. She swallowed and gulped down some water before reaching for the phone, "Grace Adler Designs…"


	3. Part 3

Part 3

"Come on, get a move on, people!" Karen's shrill voice shouted to the men around her. "Can't you move my luggage any faster? I know you have muscles for a reason!"

"Oh yeah, she definitely feels better," Will muttered, slinging a bag over his arm and slid his sunglasses on to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun off the sparkling water.

Stan laughed, watching her from their spot under the awning they were currently waiting under, "Yes, she is. She woke up this morning and felt wonderful, thanks to your medicine. She's also back on her pills and drinking just as before, so I'd be careful around her, like always."

Will groaned, "So this is all my fault? Damn!"

Stan shook his head as he spotted Grace and Jack heading towards them, Grace going to Will's side and Jack passing them and heading straight for Karen, standing on the edge of the dock. He watched as Jack wrapped an arm around her and pretended to push her into the ocean. She shrieked loudly, being heard over all of the various people talking and just the overall noise of the dock. She hit Jack on his arm and stalked away from him, her heels making dull thuds on the wooden planks as she came up to the small group of people huddled under the awning.

"Something the matter, love?" Stan asked, hiding a grin.

"Oh, honey, you're a riot," she spat, walking down the dock once more when Jack tried to get near her under the awning.

"You know, oddly enough, today she reminds me of the first time we met. Well, just her outfit," Jack commented offhandedly.

Stan turned his gaze from the man next to him to his wife, who had reclaimed her spot on the edge of the dock with a hand planted on her hip as she watched the men load the yacht with their luggage. He really didn't see any difference in her wardrobe, but apparently Jack had.

She wore her usual heels with a plain black skirt, but she had traded in her usual blouse and jacket for a quite tight, deep red halter top, tied behind her neck. He knew when she had put that shirt on that morning, there were going to be problems. He had already spotted several of the men loading their luggage get a good look at the good amount of cleavage the shirt left exposed. It also didn't help that they were several inches taller than her and could easily see down her shirt.

He broke out his thoughts when he spotted her slip her sunglasses off from the top of her head and put them on, running a hand through her loose hair to put it back in place after the wind had sent it flying in all directions. He knew she was already regretting not wearing it up.

One of the workers passed by her and Stan could already see her jaw tighten; he realized she knew these guys were watching her. He almost wished one of them would try to flirt with her. If they did, they wouldn't live very long; Stan wouldn't even get a chance to yell at them before Karen took care of them. He knew she was right when she told him she could take care of herself. That he had no doubts about.

He turned his head to listen in on what Will and Jack had been talking about and he hadn't even been listening for a minute when he heard shouting. He looked towards the dock where he saw a guy hunched over and Karen watching him with a smug smile, even though her eyes were glaring at him.

"Let me guess. A guy hit on her?" Grace asked plainly, looking between the scene in front of them to Stan.

"Let's find out, shall we?" he asked sarcastically, hurrying to meet Karen on the dock. "What happened here?"

"He grabbed my ass so I kicked him where the sun doesn't shine," Karen said, still glaring at the man who was just recovering.

The man finally stood up and narrowed his eyes at Karen, finally leering at her, "Maybe if you didn't parade around here like a slut, we wouldn't have to treat you like one." The man paused. "This one too."

Grace looked affronted as the man gestured to her, smirking at her expression as she stepped forward, but Will held her back, his eyes still planted on Karen and Stan.

"Uh-oh," Will muttered to Grace as they watched the scene unfold.

They expected Karen to kick him again or go off on one of her endless tirades, but she never got the chance to even open her mouth before Stan threw a punch to the guy's jaw, sending him to the wooden planks beneath them.

"If you ever touch my wife, talk to her, or even look at her funny, I will make you regret the day you were born," Stan growled. "Rosie! Get this man out of my sight."

Rosario came down the dock from where she was seated under the awning, "Gladly, Mr. Stan."

She hauled the man to his feet, and with the help of another paid worker, got him off the dock and out of everyone's sight.

"Wow, I didn't realize today would be a scene straight out of a badly acted soap opera," Jack said, lightening everyone's spirits in the tense moment.

"You would know all about bad acting, wouldn't you, Jack?" Grace asked sweetly, patting his arm and batting her eyelashes when Jack turned a stunned look on her.

"Karebear, are you okay?" Stan asked, wrapping an arm around his wife and pulling her to his side. He dropped a kiss to the top of her head as she nodded shakily.

"Yeah, perfectly, except for a little shocked that you did that," she admitted, looking up at him curiously.

"He had it coming to him if he dared to touch you and talk to you like that. No one does that while I'm around," he said.

"What if you're not around?" she asked.

Stan thought she was joking, but when he looked down at her face, he realized she wasn't. She was completely serious and he was momentarily struck speechless; he wasn't sure how to answer her.

"Let's just make sure nothing happens if I'm around, okay? Besides, I think if I hadn't hit him, you would've done a lot worse to him. Am I right?" he asked, grinning at her look of complete amusement.

"I want to know if I kicked him again if he'll be able to have kids," she replied, grinning wickedly.

Stan shook his head, grinning wildly at his wife's crazy antics before he spotted Rosario coming back down the dock, sans the man she had taken away.

"Yacht is ready to go, Mr. Stan. All of your luggage has been loaded, the yacht has been filled with gas, and your driver had been filled with coffee," Rosario announced, gesturing widely to the large yacht.

"Thanks, Rosie," he said, leading Karen onto the boat. He gripped her hand tightly as she stepped down and nearly lost her balance. Once she was safely on, he stepped down and the remainder of the group followed.

"C'mon, guys, I'll show you where your rooms will be," Karen said as Stan wandered off to find the driver.

She led them below deck and into a long hall that had several doors on each side. She stopped at the first one and opened it, "This is Grace's room. Grace, you said you wanted a view, so here you are."

Grace stepped into the large room and nearly gasped as she realized there was a giant window above the bed without any obstructions of any view. She immediately dropped her purse on the bed and was glued to the window in a matter of seconds.

"Okay, and while she's being kept busy, let's get the rest of you settled," Karen said, heading down the hallway to the next doorway. "Jackie, this is your room and Wilma, you're across the hall from him."

She opened both doors to show the men their rooms before gesturing to the room at the end hallway, "That's my and Stanley's room. There are also four bathrooms on the yacht. The master bathroom, which I hope to see none of you in, two down this hall, one on each side, and a fourth for the help.

"We have a kitchen on board, open all hours, but a cook only during the day. Stan won't let me keep him up all the time; he says cook needs sleep. I'm not really sure how that works," she explained, her face going blank as she thought for a moment.

"Kare, can we go swimming?" Jack asked excitedly, sticking his head out of his room.

Karen nodded, "Sure, Jackie. We have to get further out in the water, but then you can."

The yacht started moving and Jack and Will had to grab onto the wall to keep from falling at the sudden movement, but they both looked up and their jaw dropped as they saw Karen didn't move a muscle or even show any sign the yacht had started moving.

"She drunk and in three-inch heels and she isn't moving? I think I need my head checked," Will muttered, shaking his head.

"What was that, Wilma?" Karen asked, distracted by something only she saw down the hall.

"Nothing, Karen," he answered sweetly, smiling his most endearing smile.

Karen shook her head, placing a hand on her hip, "I'm going to leave you to get unpacked. Jack, honey, I'll be back to get you when we're out far enough if you want to swim. And anyone else if you're up to it."

Once everyone was in their rooms and the doors closed, Karen made her way to the deck, and held onto the rail as the yacht made a turn to head out to the ocean. She turned and spotted Stan standing next to the driver. She grinned and winked at him and she saw him raise an eyebrow. She decided to play along and she batted her eyes coyly before giving a shy smile and turned away from him watch the water. She knew he was probably laughing at her faux shyness, but it was still fun to role play with him.

She had only been there for a few moments before she felt two arms wrap around her waist from behind. She leaned back into the embrace and closed her eyes, glad to enjoy the moment and Stan arms around her.

"What are you thinking about?" Stan asked quietly, kissing the side of her neck.

"How wonderful it is to simply stand here and not have to worry about anything," she murmured, resting her hands on his arms.

He rested his chin on the top of her head and sighed contently, "I know. It is wonderful, isn't it? We all needed a vacation and de-stress for a couple of days. And you know the only reason I planned this was to see you in a bikini."

"Save it, honey. You won't be seeing me in a bikini any time soon, I can assure you," she countered, not having to look at his face to see the disappointment.

"Why not? You know you'd look wonderful," he said, kissing her neck once more. "Gorgeous." Another kiss. "Sexy."

"It's not going to work, Stanley. Besides, aren't you the one usually telling me that my low-cut tops attract unwanted attention from men? Wouldn't a bikini be worse?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Who exactly would be hitting on you out here? Rosario? Driver could care less about you, as Grace doesn't, and that leaves the only other men onboard. Do I have to remind you that they're gay?" Stan said pointedly.

"Not even a gay man can resist my boobs," she said wistfully, earning a pinch on her backside from her husband. She squealed, trying to get away from him as he trailed his fingers over her sides. "Stan, stop!"

She struggled against him, tears threatening to fall as she laughed and tried to get away. His fingers sought out every spot he knew she was ticklish in and it only made her squirm and laugh harder. They stopped suddenly, leaving her gasping and watching him cautiously for another possible attack. He reached for her once more and she stepped aside, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Kare, come here. I promise I'll stop," he said seriously, smiling slightly when she edged herself back into his arms, ready to bolt at any given point. "It's so great to see you laugh like that again."

Karen smiled, lowering her eyes from his for a moment before looking up again, "It's good to finally have something to laugh about again."

"In that case, what can I do to make you happy?" Stan asked seriously.

"You just being here already helps. And the lunatics below deck," she answered immediately.

Stan smiled, turning her to face him and kissed her softly, which she deepened rather quickly.

"You know, there are other people on this yacht and they find your show of heterosexual love revolting," Jack said, standing a few feet away and watching them.

"And you know, since we own this yacht, we could just dump you in the ocean and leave you there," Stan retorted, smiling slightly to show he was only joking.

"And iI'm/i getting sick of you walking in when I should be getting some action. I have a husband and I have needs, damn it!" Karen muttered, glaring at Jack, who simply grinned evilly back at her. "And you don't count, mister. You're gay. Anything I do with you counts as much as if I did anything with another girl."

Stan grinned and she whirled on him, her eyes narrowed and her hands planted on her hips, "Don't even comment on that. You will never get to see me with another girl, guy, or girl and guy, so don't get your hopes up, honey."

"What about an inanimate object?" Stan asked slyly.

"That you might see later tonight," she said, grinning impishly and winking at him.

Jack shook his head and looked at Stan, "Will wants to talk to you. I think he's still in his room, but I have no idea where he went."

Stan nodded, already heading below deck, "Thanks, Jack."

Once Stan was out of sight, Jack turned towards Karen, smiling expectantly, "So, things are good with you and Stan, huh? You guys are in love again?"

Karen looked confused for a moment, "Jack, what does that mean? I've never been out of love with him and of course we're good. Why would you ask that?"

"You guys were fighting last week, remember? I was over there hanging out with you and Rosie and as soon as he came in, you two started yelling at each other and he went upstairs and didn't come down the whole time I was there."

Karen laughed, waving him off, "Oh, that. We had a fight, but we're married; of course we're going fight every now and then. Honey, it didn't mean anything. We made up that night and never talked about it again. I can't even remember what it was about."

Jack clapped his hands together, catching her in a hug and swinging her off her feet, "Yay! My favorite couple is all right! Well, Will and Grace aren't fighting right now, but they aren't my favorite couple anyway."

Karen giggled as Jack finally set her on her feet, "Give them a day or two. Believe me, they will have a fight aboard this yacht. They can't go more than a week without fighting and I'm sure it's been more than a week right now."

They were silent for a moment when they heard a loud crash and then Grace's shouting. The two exchanged looks and groaned in unison.

"You are good," Jack said to Karen, amazed.

"Is it sad that I knew that was going to happen?" Karen asked, looking over at Jack.

"No, but it is sad that they can't even get along during a vacation to relax," Jack replied, laughing, which Karen soon joined in on.

--- --- ---

"Jack! Stan has okayed the swimming for now. We've stopped for a few hours and we're far enough out to swim," Will said, sticking his head through the open doorway of Jack's room.

Jack grinned, bouncing on his bed for a moment before leaping off of it and racing to the door, "Finally! I know you want to watch me undress, Will, but I think I'm going to need some privacy."

"You keep dreaming, Jack," Will called, smirking back at his friend.

"The next thing you know, you'll be setting up video cameras in here to watch every move I make. I know how you like voyeurism," Jack teased, narrowing his eyes and pouting in an attempt to look innocent and seductive all at once.

Will rolled his eyes and knocked on Grace's door, "Grace! Jack wants to molest someone and since you're free…"

"Do not even joke about that. Gay man and straight woman. Don't you see a problem with that?" Grace asked, opening her door. She was already dressed in her bathing suit with a sarong tied around her waist, a large hat perched on her head, and overly large sunglasses in her hand.

"You look like you're doing a bad impression of Karen," Will said distastefully.

"I beg your pardon?" Karen asked, emerging from her room.

Her three friends looked up and noticed she had also changed to go swimming. She had pinned her hair up after finally getting sick of the wind making a mess of it and she had changed into a two-piece swimsuit, although it wasn't quite a bikini, like Stan had wanted. It looked exactly like one except the top, which was still tied around her neck, came much lower on her stomach. She wore a medium-length black lace covering over it and tied at her waist and her friends immediately knew she wasn't going to be getting into the water.

Jack gave a low whistle, "Watch out, Kare! The girls look ready to burst out at any moment."

Karen giggled, looking down her body at her top, which was quite low and showed much more than her halter top from earlier in the day had shown, "It's not like anyone is going to hit on me here."

"There you are, sweetheart," Stan said, coming down the hallway towards them, grinning as he took in her outfit.

Karen shrugged, looking bored, "I take that back."

Jack giggled and disappeared into his room to change, as well as Will, leaving the girls alone in the hallway with Stan.

"Grace, the yacht has already stopped if you want to go out into the water now. We should be out there soon," Stan said, gesturing down the hallway, where the stairs led to the deck.

Grace grinned and immediately took off for the top deck, her towel flapping behind her as she ran. Karen and Stan moved their eyes to follow the sound of her pounding footsteps above them. A few seconds later, they heard her laugh and then a large splash.

"I will never understand the urge to swim in the ocean. It's worse than a public pool," Karen said haughtily, cringing as she thought about it.

Stan laughed, reaching for her hand and leading her above deck and to the edge of the yacht where Grace had jumped off of. Karen took one of the lounge chairs set up under the overhang and Stan took the one next to her, both leaning back in the shade and watching Grace splashing in the water below them.

They weren't there two minutes before Will and Jack came running from below deck, threw their towels in the general direction of Karen and Stan and jumped into the water, both effectively splashing Grace, who grumbled for a moment before splashing them back.

"Not fair!" Grace whined, jumping on Will's back and trying to drag him underwater, but she wasn't too successful.

Jack watched them, but stayed out of the middle of it for once. He swam to the edge of the yacht and pulled himself up, sitting on the platform as he looked back at Karen, "Aren't you coming in, Kare?"

Karen shook her head, shrugging out of her covering and laying it across the back of her chair, while laughing softly, "Of course not, Poodle. Where would you get an idea like that?"

"Oh, c'mon, Kare, it's fun! You can even get away with splashing Will," Jack mock whispered, cupping his hand close to his mouth as Will glared at him from a few feet away.

"I don't think so, honey. I'm perfectly fine up here," she said, shaking her head.

"Come here, sweetheart," Stan said, placing a hand on Karen's arm.

She turned to him and saw he had a bottle on sunscreen in his hand, which he opened and squirted some into his hand and reached for her once more.

"What are you doing? We're in the shade," she said, gesturing to the overhang above them.

"I know that, love, but the sun will move and the boat doesn't. You're going to be in the sun sometime and I know you can burn your body quicker than you can burn dinner," Stan said, raising an eyebrow when she opened her mouth to retort, looking affronted.

"How dare you!" she shrieked, finally relenting when Stan rubbed the lotion over her back and turned it into a miniature massage.

"Hey! Watch it with the soft-core porn over there--" Jack yelled, the rest getting drowned out when Grace splashed him in the face. He shot her a dirty look and spit the water out of his mouth.

"And that's why I won't swim in the ocean. Gross!" Karen said, wrinkling her nose is disgust.

Her eyes closed slowly as Stan's hands massaged the lotion onto her back and arms. She moaned softly and pushed back into his touch, gasping softly when he soothed a knot in her shoulder. His hands moved farther down, slipping under the strings that held her top on, careful not to nudge them in any way; he was afraid the slightest move would cause her top to pop off right there.

He lowered his hands once more, sliding his fingers just below the waistband of her bottoms and she jerked, leaning back and nearly crushing his fingers. He removed his hand quickly and looked up to meet her steely gaze.

"Hey, last time I checked I wasn't an exhibitionist. Save it for the bedroom!" she hissed, turning away from him to watch her friends in the water.

Stan sighed and reached for her hand, squeezing tighter when she tried to snatch it back. After a few seconds of trying to free her fingers, she finally gave up and simply let her hand rest in his, which she seemed content to do after awhile.

A few hours later, they were all still in the same positions. Like Stan had predicted, Karen was now in the sun, but she wasn't burning, thanks to him. She wasn't even seeming to tan, something which Stan was secretly happy about. He loved her unique look of dark hair and pale skin, something which was all naturally hers. He didn't need some blonde and overly tanned bimbo who couldn't keep his attention. Karen was more than enough for him.

"It's like a bad soap opera," Will commented, stealing Grace's line to Jack earlier in the day as he looked over at Jack and Grace, who were waging a full out water war against each other.

"You don't watch soap operas. How would you know?" Grace asked, getting dunked under the water by Jack. She came up sputtering a moment later and tackled Jack back underwater.

Will shook his head, not bothering to answer if she wasn't going to hear him or pay attention.

He jumped up onto the platform and pulled his legs out of the water should Jack or Grace decide to drag him back in. He watched them for a moment before turning his head slightly to watch Karen and Stan behind him.

He couldn't tell if Karen was asleep or not, as she had her sunglasses over her eyes, but she was balancing a martini glass in her hand, which made him even more confused. He had no doubt she was capable of holding one even while she was asleep. She was still spread out on her lounge chair, her legs pressed together as her lower body was tilted to the side.

Stan was still beside her in his own chair, running his fingers over her shoulders and arms every few seconds, although she didn't seem to move or acknowledge his presence whatsoever. Every so often his hand would glide over her upper thigh, but always went back to her arm.

Will watched as his hand traveled once more a little further down and went over her partially exposed stomach and she jerked, almost spilling her martini as she shifted, bringing her head up to glare at her husband, or at least, what Will thought she did. Stan kept his hand on her stomach, his fingers edging below the clingy material of her swimsuit and brushing against her bare skin there while Karen went back to ignoring him or back to sleep, Will wasn't sure which.

"Stan?" he called.

Stan looked up at the sound of his name, but then back down as he realized Will was sitting on the small platform beside the water, "Yeah?"

"Is she asleep?" Will asked.

Stan looked over at her briefly before reaching over and taking the martini out of her hand, which fell limply to her side once she had nothing to hold onto, "Pretty much. She's still trying to catch up on sleep she lost from being sick. Plus, she needs her rest after yelling at so many workers."

Will laughed, leaning back on his hands, "I forgot to congratulate you on a fight well won earlier today." He paused. "I can't understand why she attracts such forceful men. This isn't the first time I've seen her deal with a man like that."

Stan sighed sadly, looking over at his beloved wife, "I don't know why either. She attracts the same number of men that Grace would, but the ones that come after Karen are rough with her. I think it might be because Karen won't even give them a chance to talk, unlike Grace, who will turn them down nicely.

"Karen will yell at them and cuss them out and act like a bitch towards them, and in turn, they'll get rough with her and treat her like the bitch she was to them. She won't hesitate to hit them or kick them and, unfortunately, they'll grab her and force her to do something she doesn't want to."

"I can see how much she relies on you to protect her, no matter how much she denies it. The guy would have had his way with her had you not been there. He was twice her size," Will said reluctantly, already seeing the look of hatred come over Stan's features at the mention of the man he had punched earlier in the day.

"What scares me is when I'm not around and this happens. I know you, Grace, and especially Jack watch over her like a hawk, but let's face the truth, Will. You three can only do so much for her and none of you could hold your own in a fight with a man as large as the one from today," Stan said, shooting Will an apologetic look.

"Oh, I know, believe me. We do keep an eye on her, as well as Grace, but sometimes it's just not enough," Will replied, glancing momentarily to Grace in the ocean, still splashing around with Jack.

He stood up on the platform, holding onto the railing to keep from falling on the wet surface as he made his way over to Stan and Karen, while also getting a wonderful view of his two friends in the ocean. He stood beside Karen and leaned on the top of her chair as he took a deep breath of the ocean air. They were far enough out where he couldn't see land in any direction and he loved the feeling of being away from New York for a little while on vacation.

"I should tell them to get out so I can have Driver get us going again," Stan commented, looking up at Will. "Can you do me a favor? Can you get Karen to our room while I get them out of the water and let our driver know we can keep going? I sent him and the other staff on break several hours ago."

Will nodded, "Sure."

As soon as Stan was out of his chair and leaning over the edge of the railing to yell at Jack and Grace, Will turned to Karen and leaned down, getting one hand hooked under her legs and the other around her waist, lifting her from her lounge chair easily.

"Are you feeling me up, Wilma?" Karen asked drowsily, her eyes still closed.

"Yeah, because we all know how I'm attracted to the Devil's mistress herself," Will retorted, seeing a tired smile stretching her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, afraid he would drop her as they headed below deck and down the long hall which led to each of their rooms, "Gays are a hoot."

Will laughed as she pushed her face into his neck, leaning her head against his shoulder, "So are delusional, not-so-straight women."

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked quietly.

Will dodged a wall as he eased her into her room, "I have no idea. You'd have to ask your husband if you wanted a specific amount of time. We're taking off again soon and he asked me to bring you to your room."

He set her down on the large bed on the side of the room and tucked a blanket around her, seeing goose bumps form on her skin. Will figured she might be cold since she was out of the sun and only in her bathing suit.

"You should change," he suggested, kneeling beside the bed to look at her.

"I'm too tired to get up," she whined, rolling over onto her side and finally opening her eyes, jumping slightly when she found Will looking directly back at her. "Jeez, honey, don't do that." She paused, reaching back to remove a pin from her hair to let it down. "I heard you and Stan talking out there about me."

Will froze, thinking she had been asleep the whole time, "Karen…"

"No, honey, you and Stan were right about everything. Maybe I do bring the advances of these men on myself, but how would you act if they had called you a bitch or a whore? I know how to take care of myself and if I was smart, I'd let them call me whatever they wanted and then walk away, but I guess my temper gets the best of me and before I know it, I'm fighting back," Karen explained, biting her lower lip.

"Karen, there's nothing wrong with fighting back, but there's a difference between defending yourself or simply egging them on to try to go further with you," Will said, shrugging. "Today wasn't your fault though. I was watching you most of the time and it was completely his fault."

"What do you want from me, Wilma? You're being too nice," Karen said cautiously, eyeing him.

Will smiled slightly, "I don't want anything from you except to know you're safe. We can only do so much for you, but when you're not with us, you're on your own." He stopped, shaking his head slightly. "Get some sleep, Ms. Beaverhausen. I'm pretty sure dinner is in a few hours and you can't drink your dinner while sleeping."

Karen smirked, "No, I can, honey, but I really am tired."

Will laughed and left the room, closing the door behind him to give her some privacy, and headed to the upper deck, where he found a table and chairs to sit and overlook the ocean. He had just gotten seated when the yacht had started moving. He sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes and relaxing for awhile while he was alone. 


	4. Part 4

"Is it possible to get seasick halfway through the trip?" Grace asked, looking across the table to Stan, who had been out on the ocean more than the rest of them put together.

"Sweetie, you ate doubled what you usually ate and you think you're seasick? Give it an hour and if you've already digested and if you still feel the same, then I'll find some medicine for you," Will said, rolling his eyes when Grace looked away from him.

"He does pick out some of the best medicines, honey," Karen piped up from beside Stan, grinning widely.

"And I know how to get medications that are legal in the United States," Will said proudly, smiling at a pouting Karen.

"Yes, but are we still in the United States?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow and giving Will a suspicious look.

"We are still in the United States. We're just heading south along the coast for two days and then heading back up for two days. Never once will we leave the country," Stan said, sighing softly at Jack's question.

"Someone remind me to get him fixed when we get home," Will deadpanned, flicking his thumb in Jack's direction.

Karen giggled at Jack's affronted look at the mere suggestion, "Oh, poodle, he was just joking. Although, it might be deadly if you were to breed."

"Can you imagine if Karen and Jack had a child together? How scary would that be?" Grace asked, dissolving into laughter along with Will.

Stan at least tried to keep his laughter at bay behind his hand as Karen stared each of them down and Jack switched between pouting and looking outraged as his friends laughed at him.

"I think I was just insulted," Karen said slowly, before turning to her husband, whose face was turning red in his effort not to laugh.

"Yes, you were, sweetheart, but you have admit it's pretty funny," Stan said, finally allowing himself to laugh when she didn't seem ready to kill anyone anymore. He had been on the receiving end of her anger more times than he could count and he was more than willing to leave her be at those times.

"God, I need something to drink," Grace gasped, still laughing as she reached for her wine glass in front of her and taking a large gulp to calm herself down.

"If you're quite finished," Jack said irritably, watching Will and Grace as they erupted into laughter once more. He ignored them as Rosario placed a dish in front of him and his eyes lit up. "Oh, Rosie, you always know my favorites."

"It's vanilla ice cream, Jack. How hard is that to remember?" Will asked, finally having calmed down.

Jack shrugged, "Well, it's as easy as chocolate, but she seems to remember I like vanilla, okay?"

"Vanilla for you, maybe, but leave the chocolate to me," Grace said, grinning excitedly as Rosario set a second plate filled with chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream down in front of her.

"Ditto, honey," Karen said, receiving an exact duplicate of Grace's dish. She ran a finger through the whipped cream and brought it to her mouth, giggling softly when she found Stan watching the movement with his eyes.

Both Will and Stan received a dish of mixed chocolate and vanilla.

"Thanks, Rosie," Stan said, sending a smile to the maid as she left a full bottle of whipped cream and headed back into the kitchen.

"I remember the last time I had ice cream. I had just met my latest guy and I invited him back to my place and I licked it off…" Jack trailed off, seeing for pairs of eyes staring at him strangely. "Too much information?"

"Hey, don't tell me about these things unless you're doing them to me!" Karen shouted, looking wounded.

"Whoa, what?" Stan asked, turning on his wife. "Please tell me Jack didn't lick whipped cream off of you."

"Well, no," Karen admitted, pouting.

Jack smiled at her and slowly reached for the can of whipped cream, slow enough where no one seemed to pay any attention to him. He finally got his hand around it and pulled it to him, grinning wickedly as he first put some on his ice cream and then turned the nozzle towards Karen and pressed down, sending out a stream of whipped cream towards her.

Karen didn't have time to turn to him before the white, foamy substance landed on her bare arm and the top of her chest. She gasped as the cool blobs fell on her warmed skin and she immediately whipped her head towards Jack, her eyes already narrowed into a glare.

Will and Grace watched in shock from across the table as Karen advanced towards Jack, leaving Stan to shake his head in exasperation at his wife and her best friend's odd antics. She came slowly towards Jack, who shot out of his seat and towards the other side of the table, knowing he would be safe for the moment since she couldn't get there without him running to the opposite side.

"Jack, come here," Karen growled, running a hand over her chest to collect the whipped cream that was now dripping into her cleavage and flung it at Jack, where it landed on his leg.

"No, because you'll kill me," Jack said, sounding scared, but looking amused.

"Damn straight, honey," she purred, stepping out her heels.

Jack's eyes widened as her saw her shrink about three inches without her heels and knew he was in trouble; when she took off her heels, he knew she was planning to give a good chase.

"Jack, I'll give you one chance to come over here," Karen said, oddly calm as she advanced on him once more. She grabbed the can of whipped cream and came towards Jack, who was still moving around the table, although he failed to notice she was quickly getting closer.

"Kare, you don't want to make a huge mess, do you?" he asked shakily, hoping to could get to the hallway and make a run for it. Of course, they were on a yacht and there was only so far he could go before he ran out of room to run.

"Who cares? That's what we pay Rosie for!" she said, throwing her free hand up in the air, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

"So, Grace, didn't you say you had something you needed to show me?" Will said, raising an eyebrow at his best friend.

She eyed him oddly for a moment before her eyes widened and she stood up quickly, "Oh, yeah! C'mon, I can't wait until tomorrow either. Goodnight, everyone!"

They headed towards the hallway and grabbed Jack on the way out, dragging him behind them, leaving Karen to stare after them, her hands on her hips as she shook her head angrily. She sighed and stepped into her heels once more, moving to leave the room when Stan grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap.

"Hey, he was just playing around. Calm down," he said softly, kissing her forehead.

"He may have been, but if he ruins this shirt, I'll kill him," she muttered, sighing and crossing her legs while looking down at her shirt, which the whipped cream hadn't even touched luckily. At least, not the outside of it; she still had the now melting substance dripping down the middle of her cleavage.

Stan laughed, "If you two keep acting like this, the yacht won't make it back to New York in one piece."

Karen finally smiled, flipping a piece of hair out of her face, "I love him, but he just makes me so mad sometimes."

"Almost like how I feel for you. You're mad, but I just love you too much sometimes," Stan said cheekily.

Karen giggled, swatting at his chest playfully, "Stop! How can you make fun of me when I'm covered in this sticky…goop? It looks gross and feels even worse."

"Let's fix that then, shall we?" Stan asked, flicking his tongue against the indentation of her breasts, where the melted whipped cream had gathered and dripped down her shirt. She melted against him, gasping softly when his tongue dipped lower between her breasts and she pushed closer to him, whining when he pulled away.

"Stan?" she asked, her voice high and breathy.

"Hold on, sweetheart," he said, reaching for the whipped cream she had left on the table in front of him. "You know, if you really want me to continue, we might want to take this back to our room or we can always give the staff a wonderful show."

She looked confused for a moment before she felt his hand brush across the tie of her halter top behind her neck, threatening to pull it and cause her top to fall. She pulled away from his hand, causing the strings to slip through his fingers.

"I said it before and I'll say it now. I'm not into exhibitionism. Let's continue to our room," she said, standing up and teetering on her heels until she got used to the swaying motion of the yacht once more.

Stan nodded, "I thought so."

He followed Karen down the corridor, making sure he had the whipped cream in his hand before closing them in their room.

--- --- ---

"Good morning!" Karen chirped, coming into the lounge the next morning to find Will and Jack already awake and drinking coffee.

"Morning, Cruella," Will said plainly, not looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

"You're awfully happy this morning, Kare. Did you get some action last night?" Jack asked excitedly, leaning his head on his hand as he watched from the couch.

"Yes, I did, honey," Karen said in a sing-song voice, heading for the coffee pot. She filled a mug halfway with coffee and filled the rest with Bailey's, stirring it and taking a sip, sighing in bliss as she finally got her morning fix. "And I'm still mad at you for last night."

Jack gave her his best puppy-dog eyes as she sat down next to him, sipping happily on her coffee. He reached over, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer, even as she ignored him.

"The girls are looking especially perky today," he said, his face completely serious.

Karen leaned forward to place her mug on the table before turning to Jack, beaming at him, "Oh, Jackie, that's so sweet."

"Do you forgive me?" he asked.

Karen pressed a hand to her chest, smiling, "Of course, Poodle. It did get me a little action last night with all that whipped cream."

Jack squealed with happiness and grabbed Karen, curling a hand around the back of her neck and pulling her in for a kiss, which was deepened pretty quickly. He wrapped his free arm around her waist, bringing her even closer.

Will sighed heavily before seeing Stan walking through the hallway, knowing he didn't see Karen or Jack since they were in the corner of the room, "Stan! Jack is frenching your wife!"

A hand popped through the door, waved briefly, and disappeared, leaving Will to laugh at how Stan was probably used to Karen and Jack making out at any given time. He shook his head, seeing the two lovebirds on the couch finally part for air and smile goofily at each other.

"Hey, Wilma? Mind your own damn business, honey, okay?" Karen asked sweetly, not even bothering to turn her head to look at him.

"Why should I? You know Stan doesn't care anyway," Will retorted, going back to his newspaper.

Jack looked between Will and Karen for a moment and when he realized there wasn't going to be an amusing fight, he grabbed a muffin off a plate and bit into it, chewing slowly as he watched Karen next to him. He trailed a hand up her bare arm to where her off-the-shoulder top started, but she batted his hand away, sending him a teasing look over her shoulder.

"C'mon, Kare, you never let me have any fun," he whined.

She shrugged, leaning her arm on the back of the couch and laying her head there, "Jackie, can you maybe give me five minutes? I just got up."

Will snorted, attracting their attention, "You did not just get up, Karen. You expect us to believe you did your hair, makeup, and hid your horns and tail in five minutes? I don't think so."

"Maybe not, but I don't need three hours to fit my ass into a pair of pants," she replied, not missing a beat as she got up from the couch and headed over to a large window that overlooked the ocean. The only sound in the room was her heels on the wooden floor as she paced back and forth, her mug securely in her hand.

"We should've installed a stripper pole onboard," she muttered to herself, but everyone heard her and raised an eyebrow at her random comment.

"Installed a what? Are you really that desperate to relive your past?" Will asked, setting his paper on the couch beside him.

"Hey, we need someone to entertain us on this ship. Stan should've hired strippers," Karen said, leaning against the window to look back at her friends.

"Whoa. Bad time to enter this conversation. Why are you guys talking about strippers?" Grace said, walking in.

Her friends looked at her oddly for a moment before she realized she hadn't changed out of her pajamas. She really hadn't felt the need to, as she was only on the yacht with her friends and a few of the staff, ones which she already knew. She had only tied her hair up and made her way toward the coffee and food.

"Karen wants to install a stripper pole and then hire some strippers," Jack said, filling her in.

"Wouldn't it be easier to fly to Las Vegas and see the Chippendale dancers?" Grace asked, making a beeline for the muffins and grabbing two before heading for the coffee pot.

"You know, it would. Maybe next week we can take the jet and head to Vegas a few days," Karen said, grinning.

"As much as I love watching men dance naked, some of us do have to make an appearance at our jobs. I know Jack doesn't, but the rest of us have work to do," Will said.

"Well, Karen sometimes has about as much work as Jack," Grace said, eyeing her assistant.

"Hey, I do work! Well, I've started to do work lately. I answer the phones now," Karen said proudly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Karen, you do about as much work with me as you do with your stepchildren," Grace said matter-of-factly, sighing in bliss as she took her first sip of her coffee.

"I do look after those kids," Karen said, ignoring the disbelieving looks of her friends. "Like the other day. Olivia is nine, remember? She comes to breakfast last week and asks us to explain sex to her."

Jack laughed, "And just what did you say to her?"

"Well, after I spit my martini across the table and peeled Stan off the ceiling, we explained to her that it was an action between a couple very much in love and married. You wouldn't believe how hard it was for me to not laugh during that whole speech," Karen explained, grinning.

"Yes, and if I hadn't been there you would've given her every detail that she doesn't need to hear at her age," Stan said, stepping into the room and raising an eyebrow at his wife. "I think, for once, your bluntness didn't help the situation."

"Well it certainly didn't make things worse. I think she may know more than we do now," Karen argued, a hand on her hip.

"I find that highly unlikely, sweetheart, and if she does, we're in trouble," Stan said thoughtfully.

"Oh, honey," Karen giggled, returning her attention back to the view from the window.

Stan sighed in frustration and took a seat next to Will, "It's like talking to a brick wall sometimes with her."

Will laughed at Stan's muttering and laid a hand on his friend's arm, "Yes, but sometimes a brick wall can carry on a better conversation with you and you don't even have to be drunk."

Grace grinned at them, flicking her thumb in Karen's direction, "But she has to be drunk."

Will continued to laugh, but Karen had no idea she was being talked about as she stared out of the window, her eyes glued to the sparkling water below her. If she did hear what her friends and her husband were saying about her, she chose not to comment on it.

"Besides knowing too much at such a young age, how are Olivia and Mason doing? I haven't seen them in awhile," Grace said, thinking for a moment. "You know, I think the last time I saw them was when Karen brought them to work to hand them off to Rosario."

"They're doing good. Mason has been having trouble at school, like usual, and they've been tormenting each other…like usual. Pretty much they haven't changed," Stan said, shrugging slightly.

"I take it their with their mother this week?" Will asked.

Stan nodded, "Yeah, until next weekend when they'll be back with us. Don't get me wrong, I love them and love to have them at the mansion, but it's wonderful to be able to send them off to their mother and have a break once in awhile. In a way, I think they like going back and forth between both places to mix up the atmosphere. It's better than when they had to be around when Kathy and I would fight."

"Now they just have to listen to you and Karen fight," Grace pointed out, talking a sip of her coffee, grimacing, and then putting more creamer in.

"Yes, but they seem to find our fights amusing," Stan said plainly. "Karen likes to throw things."

"But my aim is always off, honey," Karen commented, making her way back into the conversation. "I can't remember a time when I've actually hit you with anything, which is a good thing. Some of my heels might have really hurt."

"You threw heels at him? Harsh," Jack commented, giving a low whistle.

Karen smiled slightly, walking over the couch and seating herself on her husband's lap, nearly falling off when Stan shifted to accommodate her added weight. He wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her place and once she was sure she wasn't going anywhere, she crossed her legs and placed a hand on Stan's shoulder for balance.

"They never hit him anyway, Jackie," she said, trying to defend herself.

"They never did," Stan reaffirmed, smiling at Jack's still shocked look.

"You should have a Jacuzzi installed on this yacht. A way to relax and sort of swim at the same time," Jack said, completely changing the subject.

"I think this yacht is already equipped with enough amenities for now. If I have much more added, it will sink in the middle of the ocean," Stan said, laughing.

"You just have to get a bigger yacht," Jack said happily.

"And you can pay for it," Stan said, feigning the same excitement Jack had used.

Will and Grace burst out laughing, ignoring the hurt look on Jack's face. Grace leaned forward to put her coffee and muffin on the table in front of her when she started laughing too hard to juggle them in her hands.

"Jack? Pay for anything? Have you lost your mind?" Will asked, still laughing.

"I pay for things…when Karen gives me her credit cards," Jack said glumly, thinking for a moment. "Hey, Kare, can I borrow a card?"

"No," Stan and Karen said in unison.

"Besides," Karen continued, "What exactly are you going to buy on our yacht?"

"That just proves having a job is a good thing," Grace said, looking around, "But looking at everyone, half of you don't even have jobs."

"We already went through this. I have a job. I even get paid for it," Karen said, exasperated.

"Karen, I only pay you because you never cash the checks. You keep them in that little box, remember?" Grace asked.

"Well, of course, honey. I don't need the money," Karen said simply.

Grace watched her for a moment before sighing and turning away, picking up her coffee again and ignoring the rest of the people in the room. Talking to Karen and trying to prove a point really was like talking to a brick wall. Grace wasn't sure why she continued to make that mistake.

"It feels so nice to be away from New York. I really did need a break from work," Will said, leaning back on the couch and stretching.

"You had better enjoy it then. We head back tomorrow," Stan said, leaning his forehead on Karen's shoulder as she sipped as her coffee.

"I'm just not looking forward to the cold weather. I'm going to miss putting on a bathing suit whenever I feel like and working on my tan," Grace said, eyeing the sunshine and water sadly.

"Well, you could, but you'd have snow to deal with," Will pointed out, getting off the couch and rolling his shoulders as he placed his coffee mug on the table. "God, I'm bored. You wouldn't have a television on-board, would you?"

"Planning on watching the big game?" Grace asked cheekily, which Will ignored as he looked over Stan.

"We do, honey. At the other end of the yacht with the bar," Karen answered immediately.

"Well, where? I'm afraid to get lost," Will asked, laughing slightly, embarrassed. He thought he had seen almost all of the ship, but knowing there was a bar and television somewhere was news to him. He had already gotten lost once before during the night to find the kitchen. It was just a miracle, he believed, that he had happened to find Rosario still up and she was able to show him the way. She had even offered to fix him something, but he declined, knowing it was her time off and she deserved it.

Stan started to get up, but Karen stopped him, sliding off his lap, "I'll show you, Wilma. I need my breakfast anyway."

"And here I thought it was your lunch time. Have you unhinged your jaw and caught your prey yet?" Will asked sarcastically.

Karen giggled, heading down the corridor and the last thing Will saw before she turned the corner was her middle finger waving in his direction. He turned towards the remaining three in the room and saw their confused looks.

"She's such a lady," he commented, feigning amazement as he left the room and went to find Karen.

--- --- ---

"We'll be back in about five minutes. Please make sure you remember everything…and everyone," Stan called down the corridor, knowing everyone could hear him since all the doors were open.

"Who do you think we're going to forget?" Grace asked amusedly, poking her head out of her room.

Stan shrugged, "I don't know, but it sounded good. Are you all packed?"

Grace nodded, stepping into the corridor, "For once, yes, I am. I managed to get most of it--"

"Wilma, where the hell did you put my shoe?"

Stan and Grace paused at Karen's echoing yell, but they couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Neither had seen her most of the morning and they knew she hadn't been to her room in quite some time.

"How should I know? I gave it back to you after you threw it at my head last night!" Will shouted back, and it was clearly obvious it was in his room.

"Karen?" Grace called, waiting for her voice once more.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you?"

"In Will's room. Why? Where are you?" Karen asked.

Grace shook her head and went across the hall to Will's open room and peeked in, surprised to see Karen lounging on Will's bed while he packed clothes into his suitcase. She had one red heel in her hand and Grace guessed she needed the other since she was barefoot.

"Has she started throwing shoes at you too?" Stan asked, coming up behind Grace. "And what the hell did you two do in here last night? This place is a mess!"

"We did tequila shots and then got into a fight about…something. She threw her heels at me and now she can't find the other one. I can barely remember my name right now let alone where your heel wandered off too," Will explained, directing the last part to Karen as she felt around under the bed.

"Well, if you didn't have more shots than I did you probably wouldn't have a killer hangover right now. Who knew you could keep down more than I can?" Karen asked rhetorically.

"Now that really is a newsflash," Grace said, looking stunned. No one could keep more alcohol down than Karen. She knew Karen had drank sailors under the table in the past so it was fairly surprising Will had managed to beat her.

"It really is. She passed out before I did, from what I remember," Will said, trying to close his suitcase, which didn't work out too well. He opened it again and smirked as he pulled Karen's heeled shoe out, holding it out to her. "I believe you were looking for this."

Karen clapped happily and took the shoe, putting both of them on, "Oh, thank God. I wasn't going to leave here without finding it."

"Has anyone seen Jack all morning?" Will asked, finally getting his suitcase closed.

"He's playing cards with Rosie," Stan said, grinning at the relieved look on Will's face at getting his suitcase to cooperate.

"You gave her the morning off again? She's the help, honey," Karen said, getting up to check her hair and makeup in the mirror across the room. They were flawless as usual, even during her hangover, while Will looked terrible with his hair mussed and dark circles under his eyes.

"Yes, but she needs time off just like the rest of us, sweetheart," Stan said gently.

Karen gave him an odd look, but didn't comment further on the fact that their maid, who was supposed to be helping them, was playing card games with Jack. It wasn't natural in her opinion.

The yacht pulled up to the dock a few minutes, where some of the same men were standing to help with their luggage and the yacht as had seen them off. The group stepped off the yacht one by one and when Karen stepped up to the dock, she immediately saw the same man who had grabbed her the day they left.

"I thought you were going to have him fired," she said harshly to Stan as she took his hand to steady herself on the uneven deck.

Stan looked confused for a moment before he spotted the man Karen mentioned and he felt his fingers tighten around Karen's, only loosening when she gasped slightly in pain. He sent her an apologetic look and waited until Will was standing next to them before leaving her side, setting his sights on the man directly in front of him, who was alternating his glances between Grace and Karen, not seeming to notice Stan heading towards him.

"I thought I told you you'd regret it if you even looked at my wife again," Stan said, oddly calm as he approached the man, almost smiling to himself when he saw the other men scatter and head for the yacht to help.

"I'm just doing my job, Mr. Walker," the man answered nonchalantly.

"You know, about that? You're fired, so leave before I'm forced to call the cops," Stan said, gesturing to the street.

"You can't protect her all the time," the man said, walking away quickly.

Stan took a deep breath and forced himself not to go after the man and take care of him right there and then. No one talked to his wife the way he did and didn't pay for it. The man was right about one thing, he was forced to admit; he couldn't protect Karen all the time and it scared him, knowing the type of business he was in. He knew businessmen would sometimes blackmail and fight their way to the top and Stan often worried someone would use Karen as a bargaining chip.

He made his way back over to his friends and Karen and wrapped an arm around her waist, squeezing softly.

"What happened? What did he say to you?" she asked, worried.

"I fired him," Stan said simply.

She opened her mouth to continue, but stopped, seeing Stan's stern look directed at her. She fell silent, slinging her purse over her arm and even ignored Jack when he tried to get her to cause havoc with him with the workers, eventually causing him to leave her alone and return to Will's side, where he also stayed quiet.

Will and Grace exchanged a look, knowing something else had happened between Stan and the worker. They knew Karen had also seen it and she was either upset or mad at her husband for not telling her everything. They found themselves worried that such a perfect trip had turned sour during the return home. Will wasn't surprised everyone was going to be sad returning to New York, but there was a strain on Karen and Stan and it seemed to be affecting everyone around them.

"Come on, the limo is waiting," Stan said to the group, never once letting go of Karen, who didn't look too happy to be standing so close to him.

In the limo, she finally separated from him and curled up against Jack and stayed there for the remainder of the trip home. Will watched as Jack talked to her softly, stroking her hair, but she didn't seem to move a muscle or even seem to acknowledge his presence as she stared straight ahead at the passing buildings.

Stan did his best to ignore his wife, but Will could see him glance to her every few minutes and then look away, sighing softly.

He kept an eye on them in case something should erupt between them, but he spent most of the drive guessing songs on the radio with Grace. It was a welcome noise to the otherwise quiet limo and gave them all something to focus on.

Will was reluctant to leave the limo when it pulled up to the apartment building where he, Grace, and Jack lived. Something was going on between Karen and Stan and he wasn't too sure Karen was handling it well. She seemed devastated, but just like she always did, she managed to hide her feelings behind a expressionless mask.

On the way out, he shook Stan's hand, thanking him for a wonderful trip and leaned across to the other seat and kissed Karen's cheek. She looked up at him shocked, tilting her head to the side in a silent question.

"Don't make this into a fight, Kare. Talk to him," he whispered into her ear, pulling away and seeing her look of understanding before following Jack and Grace up to their apartments. 


	5. Part 5

Karen sighed as she glanced at the clock and found she was already late for work. Of course, she was always late, but she had promised to arrive somewhat early to help Grace sort through the messages she had received while Karen was out of work sick. Despite Grace often saying Karen didn't do any work, they both knew it wasn't true. Karen being out of work for two days had set Grace back on several projects.

Karen grabbed her purse, flinging it over her shoulder and after she made sure her sunglasses were perched on top of her head, she made her way down the stairs and towards the front door.

"Karen?"

Karen nearly jumped ten feet in the air as she whirled around to see her husband emerging from the living room. He had left a few hours ago and Karen was sure he would still be working or at least in his office.

"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

Stan watched her sadly for a moment, fully expecting her anger directed at him, "I need to talk to you. iWe/i need to talk about this."

"Fuck off," she snapped, turning to leave the mansion, but Stan crossed the room and grabbed her arm before she could get very far.

"Do you think if we simply ignore this it will go away?" he asked, meeting her glare defiantly.

"No, but I wasn't the one who decided to stop talking yesterday. I asked you about the guy from the dock and you just brushed me off. Don't expect me to be honest with you when you won't be honest with me," Karen hissed, pulling against Stan's grip on her.

"And that's why we need to talk," Stan said sternly.

"You should have thought of that yesterday. Now let go of me," Karen demanded, once more trying to break free of Stan's firm grip on her arm.

He held on for a moment, keeping his eyes locked with hers before he finally released his hold on her, feeling guilty as she rubbed slightly at the place he had grabbed. She gave him one last glare before she turned on her heel and left the mansion.

She arrived at work a short time later and took the service elevator up to Grace's office, not feeling like climbing the stairs like she always did. She didn't see Grace as she stepped into the office, so she shrugged nonchalantly and set her purse down before sitting at her desk, immediately seeing the messages Grace has wanted her to call back on.

"Oh, hi, Karen," Grace said, coming from the back room, her arms full of rolls of fabric, which she dumped on her desk.

"Hi, Grace," Karen said softly, flipping threw the Post-It notes and sighing softly, knowing she's be spending most of the day on the phone responding to all the messages Grace had left her.

"Today has already been a disaster. So many things to do and so little time," Grace complained, running a hand through her hair. "By the way, there was a message for you and Will also called looking for you. He said to call him back as soon as possible."

Karen nodded, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion as she finally spotted the message Grace had mentioned. She was even more confused when she realized it was from Frank Woolley, the interviewer from Parade magazine. She couldn't figure out what he wanted with her since he had already interviewed her and he was supposed to send the transcript to Will. She sighed and reached for the phone, dialing Will's number from memory.

"Will Truman," she heard him answer on the other end.

"I just got your message from Grace. What's up?" she asked.

"Oh, good, Karen. Listen, I know I should have called your…garter phone, or whatever it is, but I need you down here right now," Will said.

Karen was about to crack a joke, but something is Will's deadly serious tone stopped her in her tracks, "Will, what's going on? What happened?"

"I can't and won't tell you this over the phone. Please, Karen, just do this one thing I ask of you. I need you to come down to my office as soon as possible. It's very important and I need you here right now," Will pleaded.

Karen took a deep breath and let it out slowly, glancing over at Grace, who disappeared into the back room once more, "All right. I'll be there as soon as I can."

She hung up the phone without letting Will get a chance to reply. She stood up and went over to the back room, almost slamming into Grace as she came barreling out of the room, a sketchbook in her hand.

Grace reached her free hand out to steady Karen as she teetered on her heels before heading to her desk and opening the sketchbook to compare with another book already sitting there.

"Grace, I have to go," Karen said apologetically.

Grace turned to her, her eyes narrowing in suspicion, "You had better not be leaving to go shopping. I was really counting on your help today…for once in my life. Where are you going?"

Karen sighed softly and picked up her purse, "To Will's office. I called him and he said he needs me to get there as soon as I can. I have no idea what's going on and I need to see what this is about." She paused, offering Grace a small smile. "If I can get through this fairly quickly, I'll come back to help you out."

Grace smiled, finally looking up at Karen, "You know what? You don't have to come back if you're there for awhile and just want to go home after. I really do appreciate you trying to honestly help, but if Will said it's important, he means it. Go on and I'll see you tomorrow."

Karen grinned at her friend, bent down to pick up her purse, and was out to her limo in only a few seconds, well on her way to Will's office.

--- --- ---

"Oh, Will, I'm glad you're still here. I thought you had already gone to lunch," Ben Doucette, Will's boss, said, cornering him in the hallway.

"No, I haven't gone to lunch. No one has told me what is going on yet. I was just told to get Karen and Stanley Walker here immediately and I know if this isn't important, they are going to be pissed off," Will said, gesturing wildly with his hands.

Ben placed a hand on Will's arm, "No, I think they're going to be more pissed off when they get here. Someone is planning to take over Walker Inc. and I think it will be a very big deal to them."

"Wait. What? Who is trying to take over their company?" Will asked.

"I don't know him, but apparently he knows you and Mrs. Walker," Ben said, "Listen, if this guy succeeds, we lose our biggest client."

"Not to mention two good friends of mine lost their company," Will said bitterly, more concerned about his friends than his law firm at the moment.

They fell silent when they spotted Stan coming down the hallway and like expected, he looked mildly pissed off. Various assistants scattered as he passed by them on his way to Ben and Will.

"What's going on here? What was so urgent to come down here?" he immediately asked.

"I think it's best if we wait until your wife is present, Mr. Walker," Ben said.

"I am present, but why am I here? And what's he doing here?" Karen said, coming up behind the group, glaring at Stan as soon as he turned to face her.

"Listen, at the moment I really don't care about your personal problems. I called the both of you down here because it seems we have a major problem. Someone is planning a takeover of your company," Will explained calmly.

"What? Who?" Stan roared, reacting just as Will and Ben had already predicted.

"He's in Will's office," Ben said, opening the door and leading the group into the room, where the man was sitting behind the desk, his feet propped up and watching the newcomers smugly.

"Hello, Karen. Will," the man acknowledged, nodding his head at each one in turn.

"It's the reporter," Karen gasped, looking over at Will, who was wearing an identical mask of shock.

"I'm not a reporter. And my name's not Frank Woolley. That was just an alias that I used to get close to you. My real name is Scott Woolley," the man said, bringing his feet off the desk and folding his hands in front of him.

"You know, when people want to hide their identity, they usually change their ilast name/i," Will pointed out offhandedly, still shocked at seeing the man again, but too amused to not bring up the error of Woolley's mistake.

"And what would be the point of that?" Woolley asked, looking genuinely confused.

"Just what makes you think you can take over our company and get away with it?" Stan asked.

"You don't recognize me?" Woolley asked Karen, ignoring Stan's question.

"Nope. Why don't you take off the fake nose and the buck teeth?" Karen said, running a finger over her nose and them mimed pulling her front teeth out, although it wasn't meant to be funny.

Woolley smirked, standing up, "It was in high school. I was running for student body president. I was so popular and good-looking that nobody dared oppose me. Except one girl. A shy, mousy flat-chested wallflower."

Karen sighed heavily while Ben, Will, and Stan looked back and forth between her and Woolley, confused.

"Wow, this story is not the way I expected," Will said, voicing the thoughts of everyone present.

"We had to debate in front of the whole school. I walked in, confident, cool, meticulously prepared. And then she walked in. Overnight, this mealy-mouthed waif had sprung gi-normous bazongas-- the likes of which you never see in high school."

"Yep. Back on track."

"The very first question was, "What would to improve school morale?" I laid out a brilliant five-point plan. Karen offered her seven-point plan. She repeated my five points, then raised her blouse, revealing points six and seven," Woolley explained, pointing in turn to each of Karen's breasts, eyeing them a little longer than was required.

"I won by a landslide!" Karen exclaimed, laughing.

"But that was high school. Who doesn't have a few bad memories? I mean, one bad perm and your nickname is Greg Brady for four years," Will said, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I have devoted my entire life towards getting revenge," Woolley announced proudly.

"And you decided to get revenge by taking over our company?" Stan asked, still slightly in shock at everything happening so quickly.

"Of course. At first, I tried living well, but it turns out that's really not revenge at all. But then I read that the former Karen Delaney was actually Karen Walker now and married to the very rich CEO of Walker Inc. and it made my day. Suddenly, I saw my chance.

"I have amassed a fortune of $500 million dollars. And I've spent the last couple of years driving down your stock price so that I could take a controlling interest. And this is going to be the tenth company that I've done that to," Woolley said, raising an eyebrow at Karen when she grabbed Stan's hand, squeezing tightly.

"You will not get my company, Woolley, and that's a promise," Stan sneered.

"It has been your fault all along. Or, should I say, your wife's. I did bring the transcript like I said I would and you'd be surprised how much she'll open up to a stranger when she's drunk and taking you to Barbados for lunch," Woolley said, taking an envelope out of his suit jacket and handing it to Stan. "I wish you all a good day."

He left the office without a backward glance, leaving the office's occupants in shock, most notably Stan. 

Stan let go of Karen's hand and opened the envelope, seeing the interview word for word typed out before him. He felt his jaw drop as he read everything his wife had said to the man not even a week before. He blinked a few times, not being able to read anymore as he threw the transcript and the empty envelope on Will's desk before turning to Karen, already visibly upset.

"Karen, how could you do this?" he asked lowly, watching his wife angrily.

"I--I didn't know. I thought he was a journalist, like he said he was. I didn't recognize him," Karen said softly.

Ben and Will watched the scene, not wanting to interrupt the couple, but neither were willing to leave the room and leave them alone for a blow-up they knew was coming.

"So you always tell complete strangers the secrets of our company. Karen, how stupid could you be?" Stan ranted.

Will bit his bottom lip, knowing the fight of a century was going to begin. He wondered if it could be considered the next world war, but by the time Karen got done with Stan, there wouldn't be a war left.

He was shocked to see Karen turn to face Stan and he spotted the unshed tears in her eyes and knew Stan had gone too far. Few things made Karen show emotion beyond her usual daily allowances for herself and Will knew something had snapped in her while listening to Stan.

"I am inot/i stupid, Stanley. I may be drunk and high constantly, but stupid doesn't even begin to classify me," Karen hissed, closing her eyes and shaking her head sadly. "I can't take this anymore."

"I can't help it when you could be the cause of the downhill of my company," Stan growled.

"If you say one more damn word to me, I'm filing for divorce," Karen said harshly, hurrying out of the room.

Will stepped in, holding Stan back when the other man tried to go after his wife, "Don't you dare go after her, Stan. Ben, talk to him and set up a plan for how we're going to deal with this."

Will left his office and looked down each side of the hallway, not sure which way Karen had taken off to. He took a chance and chose the left side of the hallway, making his way down carefully, checking any open doors that Karen could have possibly slipped through. He sighed, mentally cursing Stan for talking to Karen the way he did and sending her running off.

He was about to give up and return to his office to let Karen return on her own, but he knew she wasn't. She had been too upset and he knew she wouldn't come back especially if she was crying.

He looked up the length of the hallway and smiled to himself when he saw Karen's signature black Chanel sling backs hanging out of an outlet that led to the conference room, and from where those feet were, he was certain she was sitting on the floor.

He came up slowly, not wanting to frighten her as he knew she was going to be very emotional and probably not paying attention to anything around her. He came around the small wall and saw her crouched against the doorway, her knees curled up to her chest; or at least the farthest they could go and still be decent in her skirt.

"Karen?" he asked softly, kneeling down in front of her.

She looked up, removing her hands from her face and Will could see her tear-stained face and where her mascara had followed the trail her tears had. She looked a mess, but to Will, she still managed to retain her usual elegance and beauty.

"Will," she sighed, looking dejected.

Will reached for her, pulling her into his arms and she broke down, openly crying as she buried her face in his chest, not caring who saw her anymore. He held her tightly, running his fingers through her loose hair.

They say there for what seemed like forever until Karen pulled back and Will used the pads of his thumbs to clear away the lingering tears on her cheeks. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief and handed it to her. 

She took it gratefully, running it under her eyes to remove her smeared makeup, "I really need to start wearing waterproof."

Will smiled slightly, not being able to bring himself to laugh, "Talk to me, Kare. I know what Stan said upset you, but there's more to it, isn't there? You wouldn't be threatening him with divorce if there wasn't something else between you. Am I right?"

Karen was silent for a moment before nodding slowly, "There is. Honey, I don't know what to do anymore."

"Tell me what happened yesterday. Something happened at that dock and I told you to talk to him," Will said.

"I tried, Will, I really did. I tried to ask him on the dock, but he brushed me off and I knew not to ask again, especially seeing how mad he was after firing that man. I asked him again last night before we were going to bed and he told me not to ask…that it wasn't important. What scared me last night was when we actually went to bed. It may sound like overreacting to you, but he didn't…hold me when we fell asleep. He always does and it makes me feel so loved and protected, so when he didn't…" Karen trailed off, shaking her head.

"You didn't feel quite right," Will finished, enjoying the bright look in her eyes when she realized he understood.

"Exactly. The thing is, this isn't the first time he has done this. He's gotten mad at other times and simply resorted to ignoring me or brushing off my questions. I sort of learned to live with it during those times and he'd eventually get over it and be as loving as always," she said softly. "It scares me, Will. You, probably more than anyone, know how hard it is for me to admit, but it's true."

Will sighed, knowing how right Karen was. She was the last one to admit feelings, so if she was desperate enough to vocalize it, she must be scared about Stan.

"You need to talk to him, whether he wants to listen or not. I don't care if you have to handcuff him to a chair to get him to listen," Will said.

"He wouldn't listen even if he was handcuffed to a chair," Karen muttered.

Will placed a finger under Karen's chin, forcing her to meet his eyes, "You need to talk to him, Karen. This isn't worth screwing up your marriage for. Not something like this which can be fixed with some simple communication."

"What if he hates me, Will?" she asked, her voice small. "My God, he called me stupid. That's what he really thinks I am."

"Karen, no, stop," Will said sternly, sighing softly as the sharpness of his voice made her jump slightly. "He's just worked up right now. He's lashing out at anyone because he's mad and confused and you're an easy target because Woolley mostly wants revenge against you and not him. He might think he never would have had to go through with this if it weren't for you."

"I--I can't go back in there. I can't face him without either yelling at him or crying again and I can't handle it," Karen said, pulling away from Will and getting to her feet. "I have to go back to help Grace with phone calls."

"No, you're not. You aren't in any shape to work. Listen, if you don't feel like seeing Stan, maybe you should go back to my apartment. There won't be anyone there until tonight and you can have some time to yourself," Will suggested.

Karen finally nodded, smiling gratefully, "Thanks, Will."

She kissed him on the cheek as she headed down the hallway, not even sparing a glance at Will's office where she knew Stan was.

Will watched her until she was out of sight before he followed her same path and turned off to head back into his office, already dreading seeing Stan and Ben.

--- --- ---

Will had spent most of the afternoon with Ben and Stan, going over possible plans to avoid the takeover of Walker Inc. He had left his office ready to kill someone; between Stan's anger and him worrying over how Karen was, he couldn't wait to get home.

He rushed home and was surprised to find Jack there, watching a movie, but besides that, it was perfectly quiet in the apartment. He set his stuff down and shrugged out of his coat, laying it over a chair.

"Hey, Jack. How's Karen doing?" he asked.

Jack looked up, seeming to notice Will for the first time, "Karen? I have no idea. I haven't seen her since yesterday."

Will stopped in his tracks, looking around the apartment, "That's not possible. She was supposed to come here after she left my office four hours ago." He shook his head, looking at the sink and seeing an empty martini glass there; she had been there at some point in the afternoon. "Jack, call Grace and see if Karen has been there and then start calling around. I'm going to go out looking."

Jack shot off the couch, his movie forgotten, "Wait a minute! What's going on here? Why are you so eager to find her?"

"I can't explain right now, okay? Something pretty serious happened in my office today and she wanted to be away from Stan for now, so I sent her here. She was upset and since she isn't here, I'm very worried about her," Will said quickly, reaching for his coat once more.

He only saw Jack reach for the phone before he left out of his apartment, grabbing his own phone out of his pocket as he stepped into the elevator. He dialed a familiar number and waited only a few moments before the man answered on the other end.

"Stan, is Karen with you?" he asked.

There was a pause.

"No. I haven't seen her since this afternoon at your office. I figured she was with Grace or shopping with Jack," Stan answered, sounding unconcerned.

"Well, she isn't with Jack since he's at my apartment and I'm willing to bet she isn't with Grace. That's really all I needed to know. Thanks, Stan," he said.

"Wait!" Stan yelled, making Will pause as he was about to disconnect the call. "Why don't you know where she is? I know you were the last one to see her before she left your office."

"I was, but I have no idea where she could be. She was quite upset and I sent her back to my apartment, but I just got home and Jack said he hasn't seen her. I'm going out to look for her right now," Will said, stepping out of the elevator.

"You had better find her," Stan growled.

Will clenched his jaw, "No, you listen to me. She wouldn't be out there if it weren't for you. You always tell me how much you love her and want to protect her, but today at my office, I have never seen you so cold to her. That is why I sent her back to my apartment, because she didn't want to be around you. She was very upset that she can't seem to talk to you anymore. Stan, if it doesn't change and if you don't start trying to meet her half way, you will lose her. She wasn't joking when she threatened you with divorce. Think about it, Stan."

He disconnected the call and wasn't surprised to hear it ringing only a few seconds later. He waited until it stopped ringing before he turned it off, slipping it back into his pocket and continuing down the street.

--- --- ---

Karen sighed, staring at the olive in the bottom of her sixth martini. At least, she was certain it was her sixth, although she hadn't even begun to feel the tiniest of buzzes yet. She had a feeling she'd had to drink the bar out of business to feel even the slightest bit drunk.

She tracked the bartender down and ordered another martini before grabbing the olive out of her current one and popping it into her mouth, chewing slowly as her thoughts once again invaded her head. She forced herself to push them aside and clear her mind, not wanting to break down the bar; she was an emotional drunk at the moment and she wasn't about to start bawling right then and there. She already had too much to worry about.

"Are you here alone?"

Karen bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself not to kill the man behind her. She turned to give the man a piece of her mind, but found herself speechless as she found herself looking at Scott Woolley.

"A pretty lady such as yourself shouldn't be in a bar alone," he continued, grinning slyly.

Karen rolled her eyes at the lame pick-up line and turned back to her drink, ignoring Woolley, even as he took the barstool next her and ordered his own drink, looking as if he was staying for awhile.

"What are you doing here?" Karen asked, her eyes narrowing on him.

"Can't a guy just come into a bar and get a drink like everyone else? Plus, I couldn't pass up leaving when I saw you here by yourself," Woolley said, grabbing his drink as soon as the bartender set it down.

"Watch it, Mister. I'm a married woman," Karen protested, immediately feeling the emotions wash over her as she said it and looked down to her hand where her wedding ring shined, even in the bar's dim lighting.

"Yes, I'm very aware of that. I am the one who is taking over your husband's company, in case you forgot," Woolley pointed out, smirking at the woman beside him.

"How dare you come in here and tell me that! You'll get that company over my dead body," Karen shrieked, getting up to leave.

Woolley reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back uncomfortably close to him as he looked down at her, "Now try to keep this professional, Mrs. Walker. We wouldn't want your husband to think you'd screwed up again by letting more details slip."

"If you want to keep this professional, Mr. Woolley," she mocked, "then you'll let me go before I call security to haul your ass out of here."

"Now why bring security into a small meeting of friends?" he asked nonchalantly.

"We are not friends and will never be. Let go of me," Karen demanded, pulling against his grip, which didn't seem to loosen.

"I suggest you listen to her if you know what's best for you."

Karen nearly sighed in relief as she looked over her shoulder and saw Will standing there, not looking too happy as he watched Woolley still holding onto her.

Woolley looked between Will and Karen and finally let her go, holding his hands up in defense as Will stepped up next to her, "No need to overreact. I was just steadying her as she seems to have had one too many drinks."

"Mr. Woolley, I don't know how much you know about Karen, but I can assure you she is not even near being drunk right now and she seems to be standing just fine to me," Will said calmly, wrapping an arm around Karen. "If you'll excuse us, we'll just be leaving. Just for your reference, she's not even legally obligated to speak with you unless I'm present, so keep it that way."

He led Karen to the exit and stopped her just outside of the bar, making sure she was okay and hadn't gotten into any trouble.

"I thought you were going to be at my apartment," he said gently.

"I was, but I needed to do something. I was going stir crazy, honey," she said apologetically, shrugging slightly.

"I had Jack calling various people to see if they've seen you and I was checking around the city. Luckily, this is the first place I checked. It is your favorite bar, after all," Will said, glad to see her give a slight smile.

"I just didn't want to go home," Karen admitted, looking up at Will. "You didn't call Stan, did you?"

"Yes, I did, to check if you were with him," he said reluctantly. 

He paused for a moment as he saw her shiver from the cold air hitting her and he pulled off his coat, holding it out for her to put on, which she did quickly and smiled her gratitude.

"What did you tell him?" Karen asked.

"The truth…that he had better do something quick or he was going to lose you," Will said softly, taking Karen's hand in his own.

"Sometimes I don't understand. Everyone sees how he treats me in public and I've heard you and him talking about me; that's how he truly is. I know he loves me and even if it annoys me sometimes, I love how protective he is of me. It just seems that another side of him comes out at times and we end up like this. I learned to accept it and just ignore him as he does me, but it's never been this bad, Will. I'm scared to go home and face him," Karen said slowly, staring straight ahead at the building across the street.

"When I called him, I mentioned to him about the threat of divorce. Would you really do that?" Will asked.

"I might," Karen said thoughtfully. "Over what happened today, no, I wouldn't, but if we can't fix this, then I feel like I have no choice. I shouldn't have to worry about whether or not he'll be ignoring me or if we'll be having a screaming match. I shouldn't have to wonder how to save my marriage, Will."

"That is why you two need to sit down and talk this through. If you need someone there, I'll be more than happy to help as your friend, not your lawyer," Will said, grinning when Karen finally gave a genuine smile.

"Why do you keep looking after me lately, honey?" she asked teasingly.

"Because you can't seem to take care of yourself," he replied without missing a beat.

Karen giggled as Will wrapped an arm around her waist and they began walking down the sidewalk, close enough to Will's apartment to not worry about getting a taxi. They were silent for a moment before Will could see his building in the distance before Will slid his hand down to take Karen's.

"You're going to stay with Grace and I tonight and then tomorrow we can figure out where to go from there, okay? I think you just need to get some sleep," Will said.

Karen nodded, "Sure, honey."

"You'll have to choose a bed. Either way, you can share with Grace or kick her to the couch," Will quipped.

"Oh, honey, I'm easy. With enough chocolate and coffee, I'll do just about anything," she said, grinning sheepishly when she spotted Will watching her oddly, "And alcohol."

They were silent as they stepped into the elevator and went to Will's apartment. As soon as they stepped inside, they were met with a flurry of questions from both Grace and Jack, who were worried out of their minds. Or just out of their minds, Will mused.

"Oh my God, are you okay, Kare?" Jack asked, wrapping his arms around his best friend and lifting her off her feet in a hug.

"I'm fine, honey," Karen assured, gasping as Jack's arms got a little too tight around her waist, "Jackie, I can't breathe."

Jack released her and smiled at seeing her safe, although he did noticed her puffy and red eyes from when she had been crying. He knew not to push her for information, so he left her alone and allowed himself to simply be happy she was fine.

"Where was she?" Grace asked Will.

"The first bar I went to. She's staying here tonight so you can either share or join me," Will said, heading to the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of water.

"I'll share. It can be a slumber party," Grace said excitedly, bouncing up and down while Karen laughed at her.

"I've got an early day tomorrow and I need to get some sleep, so the rest of you are welcome to go to sleep also or get out," Will said, smiling innocently as he walked by the couch on his way to his bedroom.

Jack scoffed and stood up, "Fine. I can see I'm not wanted here."

"Jackie!" Karen called, but Jack had flounced out of the apartment without hearing her as he went to his own apartment. She turned to Grace on the couch beside her, "Grace, do you have anything I can wear for tonight?"

Grace was silent for a moment as she let her eyes wander from Karen's face to her chest, "Well, with those, I'm not going to have much that fits you all that well."

Will laughed, gesturing to Karen to follow him, "Come on, Karen. I think one of my shirts would fit better than Grace's. She can supply your bottoms."

"I'm counting on it," Karen purred to Grace before she got off the couch, kicking her heels off by the wall before following Will into his bedroom.

By the time Karen had entered the bedroom, Will already had two shirts in hand, one for her and one for him.

"Try this one and see if it fits. I'm afraid anything either Grace or I have is going to be a little tight in chest area," he said, amused, as he handed her a black shirt.

She took it and set it down on his bed while she unbuttoned her shirt, took it off, and reached behind her back for the clasp on her bra.

"Whoa. I guess you don't worry about privacy at all," Will commented, laughing as he turned to strip off his own shirt and dump it in the hamper.

"You're gay for a reason, honey," she said innocently, throwing her bra beside her abandoned blouse and put Will's shirt on, not surprised when it was fairly tight around her chest.

Will dug through his drawer and pulled out a pair of track pants before turning back to her, smirking when he saw the shirt on her, "I thought so. You really should keep some clothes here or at Jack's. You often spend the night and have to borrow someone's clothing."

"Yeah, I should, but I never think about it," she said, taking her clothes into her hand.

"Karen! Get in here if you want the rest of your clothes!" Grace yelled from the other bedroom.

Karen switched bedrooms and stripped off her skirt while Grace was changing on the other side of the room. She reached for the pants on the bed, but Grace grabbed them, laughing as Karen tried to reach them. 

Grace ran out of the bedroom without a top on, leaving her in just a pair of jeans and a bra, and Karen followed her, wearing just a shirt and her panties. The two chased each other around the couch, Karen trying to grab the pants out of Grace's grasp.

"Hilarious, Grace, now give me back my pants!" Karen shrieked, nearly tripping over her own heels as she rounded the couch once more.

"You know, if I was straight, this would be a scene straight out of a soft-core porno movie," Will commented, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the doorframe as he watched the two women's odd antics.

Karen finally caught up to Grace and grabbed the pants out of her friend's hand, slipping them on and turning to Will, pushing hair out of her face, "Then why are you still watching us, perv?"

"Because this is too amusing and this could be used as blackmail at a later, too be determined date," Will said, laughing as Karen kissed his cheek on the way into Grace's bedroom.

"I sometimes worry about you, Will," Grace said, passing by him.

"Everyone does, sweetie," Will said solemnly, giving Grace a quick peck on her lips before he closed the door to his bedroom.

Grace shrugged at his answer before joining Karen in her bedroom and closed her own door, closing them in together. She laid beside Karen, was lounging back on the bed, her head laying on her crossed arms behind her.

"Jack and Will never did tell me why they were looking for you tonight or why you're spending the night," Grace said, turning on her side to look at her friend.

Karen sighed, still staring at the ceiling, "I don't mean for this to come out wrong, Grace, but I don't really want to talk about it right now. I'm just going to say that Stan and I had a fight and I need some time away from him so Will offered for me to stay here."

"That's fine. Are you going to be okay?" Grace asked, her fingers playing with Karen's hair.

"Yeah, honey, I'll be fine," Karen answered softly, finally looking over at Grace and smiling slightly.

Grace let the issue drop, knowing Karen probably wasn't ready to talk about whatever had happened between her and Stan. Will knew, but Grace suspected it was because he was present during the fight. She didn't know how to help her friend, but she knew she had to think of something; Karen and Stan were perfect together and she didn't want them fighting, or even worse, breaking up.

Grace had observed past fights between the couple and Karen was happier and seemed like a better person when she was with Stan and they fight. She wasn't sure how Karen would be or what mess she would turn into if she didn't have Stan with her.

"Why don't we get some sleep? Lord knows I need it after all the work I did today by myself," Grace teased, poking Karen in the side, making her jump.

"You said I didn't have to come back and I didn't," Karen complained, grinning as she poked Grace right back.

"I know, sweetie, and I meant it," Grace said, kissing Karen's cheek as she reached over to turn out the light, bathing the room in complete darkness.

"Grace, I'm not fine," Karen said after several moments of silence. "I'm hoping to fix that tomorrow. Will offered to sit with me while I talked to Stan and I think I may take him up on that offer. This needs to be fixed."

"If Stan started this, like the way I think it might have happened, why don't you let him make the first move?" Grace asked.

"Because he never will, honey. Whether he starts the fights or not, he doesn't apologize if he doesn't feel like he messed up and I know this time he thinks I messed up," Karen said sadly, blinking rapidly to keep tears from falling once more. She was disgusted to realize she had done that more than she would have liked to.

"I just hope things work out okay with you, Kare. You really need a man who will pamper you like you deserve," Grace said.

Karen smiled at her in the darkness and Grace could just barely make it out, but she returned the smile at full force.

"Thanks, Grace. I think I needed to hear that," Karen said.

"You're quite welcome. Now, can we get some sleep before I end up falling asleep on you and end up insulting you?" Grace teased, leaning over to give Karen a quick kiss.

"Yes, please. I think I need all the sleep I can get right now," Karen said, rolling over to face Grace.

In hardly any time, she heard Grace snoring softly, but she was still awake, a million thoughts running through her head. She was too worried about Stan, the possible takeover of their company, and the horrible Scott Woolley. She didn't even want to think about how mad Stan would be at her if Woolley succeeded in taking over the company; he was already mad enough at her before there was a possibility of Woolley gaining the company.

That almost seemed small in comparison to how she was going to talk to Stan the next day. She was very grateful Will had offered to go with her; she was already too afraid to do it with him, let alone by herself. She couldn't believe it had come to her being afraid to talk with her husband about how he was ignoring her.

She sighed, rolling over away from Grace and curling her hands under her head, trying to relax enough to fall asleep, but it seemed that would the last thing she would do that night.

She finally gave up and sat up, slipping out of the bed and out of the room, figuring she could watch something boring enough to put her to sleep, but she was willing to bet anything would interest her at that point.

She curled up in the loveseat and flipped on the television, making sure to keep the volume low for the others sleeping in the apartment. After flipping it around for a moment, she settled on a cheesy romance movie, figuring if she couldn't sleep, she could always cry. 


	6. Part 6

The next morning, Karen felt herself predictably nervous as she stepped into the mansion, Will directly behind her. She couldn't believe she would ever feel nervous about talking to her own husband, but somehow it had come to that and it made her feel sick to her stomach. It wasn't supposed to turn out like it did, she thought. Everything had been so crazy the day before she could still feel her head spinning.

"Relax," Will whispered to her, although it still sounded loud in the quiet room.

Karen took a deep breath, looking around to see if anyone was nearby, but she didn't even hear any sounds from Rosario cleaning. The silence was very rare to hear in the mansion and quite creepy. It only made Karen more nervous as she went down the hallway on the way to the kitchen and dining room, grabbing Will's hand when she spotted Stan sitting at the table with his laptop rather than in his office.

"Stan," she said softly, watching him expressionlessly.

His head snapped up at Karen's unexpected voice and Will was disgusted to see anger in her husband's eyes as he watched her. 

Stan closed his laptop and stood up, coming over to Karen and Will, a hard look still on his face, "What are the both of you doing here?"

"She lives here, Stan, and we came to talk, so please sit down and we can get the bad stuff out of the way, okay?" Will said, raising an eyebrow as Stan opened his mouth to protest. Stan was an intimidating man, but Will could be scary when he needed be, and at that moment, he felt he had to.

He placed a hand on the small of Karen's back and almost had to force her to move to the table to sit down. As soon as he saw Stan and Karen seated and facing each other, he sat down beside Karen.

"Now that we're all calm, maybe you two can finally talk something out. Anyone want to start?" Will asked, looking between the couple, not surprised when both of them stayed silent. "Okay, let's try this. Let's assume this was no one's fault--"

"Oh, it was certainly her fault. She brought this on herself," Stan said, breaking his silence.

"My fault? This is not my fault!" Karen yelled, her emotions finally getting the best of her.

"Yes, it was! You're the one who divulged certain details to that damned reporter and practically gave him tips on how to takeover my company," Stan countered.

Karen's eyes were blazing as she tried to calm herself and not slap her husband across the face, "Which wouldn't have happened if you would have rescheduled the meeting and went yourself instead of sending me. You knew I had no clue what to do and that's why you asked Will to stay with me. I had no idea what to say to him, so I just answered the questions as he asked them."

"So why did you take him to Barbados then?" Stan asked mockingly.

"I didn't know you had asked Will to stay with me! He only told me the truth after I got back. If you were so worried about me, you should've told me in beginning and I wouldn't have left," Karen said, her eyes filling with tears.

"It's a little late for that, now isn't it?" Stan asked rhetorically.

Karen shook her head, the tears finally slipping down her cheeks, "You son of a bitch. I can't believe you're doing this to me. You're mad at me for something…well, I have no idea what happened." She stopped, wiping her cheeks roughly before turning to Will. "I can't do this right now. I thought it would help if you were here, but I don't think anything is going to help anymore."

She was out of her seat and out of the room before Will could stop her, but he let her go, seeing she was already upset again and needed some time to herself.

He looked over at Stan and saw the anger completely gone, replaced by something Will couldn't identify.

"I can't believe I let it go this far. I hurt her, Will," Stan said, looking pained, standing up, "I have to go talk to her. What the hell is wrong with me that suddenly I'm screaming at her and making her cry?"

"I understand that you're on edge about your company and you were looking for someone to blame, but it's not Karen. You should be directing this anger at Woolley and to a plan to stop him and not your wife, who was just as shocked as you were," Will said.

Stan nodded and left the room, immediately heading to his bedroom, where he knew Karen had likely run off to. He came in slowly, not knowing what to expect, but he found Karen sitting in the middle of their bed, holding a frame in her hands. He didn't have to see the picture to know it was their wedding photo that they kept on a side table beside the bed.

He watched her sadly as she traced a finger over their smiling faces before throwing the frame to the bed beside her, tears still trailing down her face, even as she attempted to wipe them away.

"Karen?" Stan called softly, stepping into the room.

Karen looked up and Stan saw her face go expressionless as she put up another mask against him and he didn't blame her. He deserved all the treatment he got from how he had treated her.

"I have nothing to say to you," Karen bit out.

"Good, then just listen," Stan said, coming closer to her and was surprised when she didn't seem to move away from him. "I don't know what came over me yesterday, but I'm sorry. Sorry doesn't even begin to explain or justify my actions or what I said to you."

He moved to sit on the bed next to her and reached out a hand, placing it on her bare arm, but she flinched away from him, bringing her hand to rest on the place where he had touched her.

"I once told you that no one should make you cry because no was one worth your tears and I meant it, even if it included me," Stan said softly.

"They why did you?" Karen asked, her voice catching on a sob as she turned away from him.

Stan cupped her cheek in his hand, moving her back around to face him, "Because I'm an asshole, plain and simple. I was looking for someone to blame and instead of just blaming Woolley like I should have been, I took it out on you. The truth is it wasn't your fault. I should have told you the truth in the beginning."

"But, Stan, this isn't the first time you've lied to me. You get like this sometimes and you ignore me when I try to help. That sure as hell doesn't qualify as a good marriage," Karen hissed.

"No, it doesn't," Stan said. "Will told me to do something about it or I would lose you and that scared me. You threatening a divorce scared me, but I was too proud to apologize then."

"Why apologize now then?" Karen asked softly.

"Seeing you cry broke something in me. I caused those tears and things had gone too far. I knew this wasn't one of our usual fights where we scream at each other and then make up. This went far beyond that," Stan said.

He leaned down slowly, kissing Karen's forehead and when she didn't pull away, he tilted her chin up and kissed her lips softly, tasting the salt of her tears as he leaned back, watching her keep her eyes closed.

"I'm so sorry, baby," he whispered, seeing a single tear trickle down her cheek.

He brushed it away and cupped the back of her neck, bringing her in for another kiss, one that wasn't as innocent as it had been before. He tilted his head, allowing himself to deepen the kiss, which Karen immediately responded to and matched the urgency he was using with her.

Karen pulled back from him only a few seconds later, breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Her mind wandered back to a few days ago when Jack had walked in on them in the bathroom and she briefly thought about Will downstairs, but she could have cared less if he walked in at that moment.

"Kare?" Stan said softly, worried when he saw the far away look in her eyes.

She snapped to attention at his voice and smiled slightly, "I'm fine."

He reached for her again and she went willingly, melting when he trailed his lips down the side of her neck and moved his hand to the top button of her blouse, undoing them one by one. He laid her back against the pillows, keeping their eyes connected as he moved down her body. He followed each open button with a kiss to her chest and then to her stomach as the blouse was completely open.

She sat up slightly, slipping it off her shoulders and pulled him up for a fierce kiss, both pouring out emotions they had kept bottled up during their fight. She reached for the buttons on his shirt, not letting him break the kiss as she almost ripped it off of him, giggling softly when he finally pulled back and gave her a playful glare.

"It's a good thing I'm rich or I may have to live with ripped shirts thanks to you," Stan muttered, ignoring Karen's laughing coming from below me.

He reached for the zipper on the back of her skirt and pulled it down, leaving her to squirm out of it as he reached for the zipper on his own pants. Only a few seconds later, a pair of pants and a skirt went flying across the room in unison.

Stan trailed a hand up Karen's bare thigh and up her side, lowering his head to lick a path between her breasts and slide a hand behind her, feeling for the clasp of her bra, which he found fairly quickly and unhooked it, glad he had taken the time to learn the art of unclasping it with one hand.

His free hand trailed down her flat stomach and he licked a trail around the outside of her right breast, nipping slightly as she gasped, arching up into his touch. He repeated the process on the other side before Karen got impatient and slid her bra down her arms, flinging it in the same direction as she had her skirt.

"You need to learn some patience, darling," Stan murmured, nipping slightly at the skin on her stomach and held her down as she squirmed from the sensation.

"No time for that, honey," she replied.

He grinned at her and moved up on the bed, lowering his head to ghost his teeth over her left nipple before soothing the slight pain with tongue, making her give a low moan as she threw an arm over her face. He left her alone to enjoy the sensation as he dragged his teeth down below her breast, gauging her reaction.

"Stop teasing," Karen said, as he moved on to give the same treatment to her other breast.

"It's so hard to resist those things," Stan commented, completely serious.

Karen giggled, trailing her foot up Stan's leg, "I knew you only married me to get at them."

Stan shook his head and moved a hand down Karen's side and over the curve of her hip to land on the string of her panties, which he moved away slowly on each side and down her legs, almost laughing when she kicked them off of her and onto the floor when they were low enough.

She nearly shivered as the cold air hit her and she vaguely wondered if Rosario had turned on the heat before she felt Stan's hand slide up the inside of her thigh, spreading her legs slightly. She looked up at Stan for a moment before her glance settled on his hand, still resting on her thigh. She followed the movement as he slid his hand down to stroke her in a feather-light touch that had her aching for more. Her eyes slipped shut as his thumb stroked over her and before she could utter a sound, he slipped a finger inside of her.

"Oh God," she moaned, shifting her hips up to increase the contact she so craved at that moment.

Stan grinned, planning to draw it out far longer than Karen would have liked. He moved his finger slowly in and out, his thumb still stroking over her and he heard her soft sighs and moans from further up the bed. He slipped a second finger into her, amazed, as always, at how tight she was and probably would forever be.

He moved slowly back up the bed, his fingers still moving on and in her, and leaned down for an eager kiss. He sped up his movements slightly and he heard her gasp into his mouth, her nails digging into his forearm as she fought to keep control.

"Come on, let it go, sweetheart," he urged, running his tongue over her earlobe before biting down hard, careful of the diamond earring placed there.

He sped up his ministrations once more before he felt her tense around his fingers, tightening her grip on his arm as she cried out. He covered her mouth with his own, swallowing her cries as she rode out the waves of pleasure.

He pulled his fingers out of her as she lowered her arm from her face, giving Stan a weak smile as she tried to regain her strength after such a powerful orgasm.

"Feeling better?" Stan teased, stroking her hair back from her face.

"Much better, honey," she purred, pulling away slightly when he tried to touch her over-sensitized skin.

Stan kissed her forehead softly, before giving her a quick peck on her lips, "Yeah, but I'm not."

"I've had my fill for the day. Go find yourself a whore," Karen muttered, playfully turning on her side away from Stan.

Stan ran a hand down her back and left it on the curve of her backside, "What if I want you to be my whore? I think you may have some experience in that field of knowledge."

Karen rolled back around to face her husband, a smirk firmly in place, "So, you call me a whore and then expect to screw me? It doesn't work like that, Mr. Walker…especially if there isn't any money involved."

"How about new shoes in place of the money? Lord knows you have too many credit cards to keep track of," he said, pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder.

Karen clapped her hands in delight, "Works for me."

Stan laughed, moving a hand down to spread her legs once more as he settled between them and moved to take off his last remaining piece of clothing, his boxers. He threw them to join their growing pile of clothes on the floor before reaching his hands under Karen's thighs and spreading her legs even wider.

He leaned down, bracing his weight on his arms as to not crush his wife lined himself up, entering her in one smooth move. He ceased his movements as he heard her gasp, not sure whether it was in pain or in pleasure.

"Open your eyes, Karebear," Stan whispered, cupping Karen's face in his hands and leaning down so their foreheads touched.

Karen opened her eyes slowly as Stan pulled out of her and pushed back in, causing her to whimper slightly. She stared into Stan's face and Stan was taken aback at the love shining in the depths of her dark eyes. He couldn't understand how easily she had forgiven him after all the things he had done and said to her.

"Move, Stan, please," she begged, shifting restlessly.

Stan grabbed her hips in a firm grip and moved slowly, setting the pace aggravatingly slow, even though Karen didn't urge him to go any faster. He changed his angle slightly and pushed back into her, smiling as Karen gave a sharp gasp and fisted the sheets beneath her.

He kept his pace steady, driving Karen mad as she longed for her second release. She tried to urge him to go faster, but he simply held her hips still, not letting her speed up.

"Stan," she whined, nearly growling as he went completely still, sheathed fully inside of her.

"What do you need, sweetheart?" he asked, smirking as she rolled her eyes and tried to move her hips once more.

"Move faster," she gasped.

He grinned at her and flipped them over so she was straddling him, her hands resting on his chest to keep her balance. He was still holding onto her hips as she moved experimentally on top of him, moaning as she found a particularly wonderful position and stayed there, lifting herself and slamming herself back down onto him.

He moaned, tightening his hold on her hips as she clenched around him. He glared at her as she did it again, but she only graced him with an innocent smile.

"You really don't want this to last long, do you?" he asked, holding Karen's hips still when she tried to move on him.

"Of course I do, honey, but a little bit of teasing always goes a long way," Karen murmured, gasping sharply when Stan moved her up slightly and pulled her back down, moving up to meet her halfway.

Stan brushed a hand down Karen's stomach, trailing lower to rub against her roughly, causing Karen to lose her balance at the unexpected pleasure and land fully against Stan. He rested one hand across her back and left the other of her hip, pulling her closer and shifting slightly to thrust more deeply.

She buried her face in Stan's bare chest, whimpering softly as he moved to stroke her once more, bringing her over the edge for the second time.

Stan held her tightly, thrusting faster even as she tried to regain control. His breathing quickened and only a few seconds later he groaned and came inside of her, not once loosening his hold on her.

He finally caught his breath and brought his hand up, pushing damp, dark hair away from Karen's face and found her staring at him, looking tired, but she had a small smile on her lips.

"Do you want me to leave you alone so you can get some sleep?" he asked softly, running a hand over her back.

"I don't want you to leave, but I would like some sleep. I didn't get much last night," she said, already closing her eyes as she rested against him.

"I have to leave, for just a moment, sweetheart. Will is probably wondering what happened to us, if he didn't already hear," Stan said, moving Karen off of him and slipping out of her, causing her to gasp slightly at the sensation. He got her settled among the pillows and pulled the bottom sheet up and over her before kissing her forehead and moving off the bed, searching for his clothes on the floor where he had thrown them.

He made sure he looked presentable before leaving his bedroom and heading back downstairs to find Will, who he couldn't seem to find. He searched the dining room, where he had last seen his lawyer, but it was empty as if no one had ever been there.

"Mr. Stan?"

Stan turned towards the voice and smiled at seeing Rosario, "Oh, good, Rosie, do you know where Will is?"

"He left a little while ago. He figured things were all right between you and Miss Karen," Rosario said, pausing. "I'm afraid while you were…busy, someone else has arrived. Mr. Scott Woolley is here and waiting for you in your office upstairs."

Stan groaned, running a hand over his head, "Wonderful. He is the last person I'd like to see right now. In fact, I'd only like to be seeing my wife at this point, but it looks like that can't be helped."

"Too much information," Rosario said, grimacing slightly.

Stan laughed, "I'm sorry, Rosie. Feel free to go back to whatever you were doing. It looks like I have a meeting now and Karen is asleep."

Rosario nodded and disappeared into the kitchen without another word.

Stan sighed and made his way back up the stairs and to his office, confused when he found the room empty. He thought for a moment before heading back outside of the room. He spotted a door closing down the hallway and was shocked to realize it was his bedroom door. Knowing Rosario was still downstairs and Karen was probably asleep, he knew it could only be one person.

He hurried to the door and threw it open and his suspicions were confirmed. He found Woolley standing just inside the room, which wouldn't have been so bad, Stan thought, if Woolley hadn't been watching his sleeping wife intently. It didn't help matters that she was completely nude under only a thin sheet, which he noticed had slipped down due to her moving around; she had it twisted around her body with her legs poking out and it slipping dangerously low on top.

"What the hell do you think you're doing in here?" he yelled, his anger making him forget to keep his voice low for his wife's sake.

Woolley snapped his head around to face Stan at the same moment Karen jerked awake, looking wildly around the room as she tried to locate what had woken her.

"Stan, what's going on?" she asked tiredly, finally spotting Woolley. "What is he doing in here?" She pulled the sheet up over her body, cutting off any view Woolley might have had of her, glaring at him as he seemed to keep watching her.

"I don't know, sweetheart, but he's going to be leaving right now," Stan reassured, opening the door and gesturing to it, sending a hard look at the other man, who still hadn't said a word yet.

Woolley finally tore his gaze from Karen and turned towards the door, stepping out as Stan nearly slammed it behind him.

"What the hell were you doing in my bedroom gawking at my wife?" Stan demanded, watching as Woolley gave him a small smile.

"I think I just got lost. Your maid sent me to your office, but I think her directions were a little off," Woolley said, grinning as he gestured wildly between the bedroom door and the hallway.

"No, her directions were just fine. Even if you had walked in the wrong door, you should have left when you found Karen there, but it looked like you were planning to stay for awhile," Stan said, disgusted. "Tell me why you're here so we can speed this up and you can leave."

"I came to give you this," Woolley said, handing Stan a thick folder, "That's my plan for your company when I take it over. I intend to share it with your board members and we'll see what they think of it."

"You need to get over this fascination of getting revenge on Karen. This isn't her company, it's mine. You aren't really hurting her here," Stan pointed out, not even bothering to look through the folder.

"Yes, but it does affect her. You see, if I take over your company, you're going to lose millions of dollars and in the long run, if I play my cards right, you'll be broke, which directly affects her love of your money. I guess I can kill two birds with one stone here," Woolley said, smiling delightedly as he realize the true effect of what his plan would cause.

"I think you've said enough, Mr. Woolley. If you'd please," Stan said, gesturing down the hallway.

Woolley raised an eyebrow before he turned and headed for the staircase down the hallway, not once looking back as Stan watched him go, relieved the confrontation didn't end up worse than it had.

He looked at the folder in his hand in disgust and leaned into his office, tossing it on his desk before he closed the room, heading back to his bedroom, eager to spend the rest of the day curled up in bed with his wife.

He stepped into his bedroom, closing the door behind him and stripped off his unnecessary clothes, slipping into bed beside his wife and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"What happened earlier?"

Stan smiled; he should've known Karen would still be awake after Woolley had interrupted her much deserved rest.

"I'm not sure. Rosario told me he was waiting in my office, but he wasn't. I saw him come in here and when I found him, he was staring at you," Stan explained, sounding confused himself.

"It was…creepy. I think he just may be creepy, just like he was last night in the bar," Karen said, leaning her head back on the pillow.

"Wait. Last night in the bar? When were you in a bar with him?" Stan asked, immediately worried.

"Will offered up his apartment yesterday because I didn't want to come back here. I got a little restless and headed out to the nearest bar. I had only gotten through a few drinks when he came in. It was weird; it's like he was trying to hit on me. I never did find out for sure since Will came in before he could get very far," Karen said, trailing her fingers over Stan's arm.

"There's something more to him, it seems, than him just wanting to take over my company. I know he wanted revenge against you, but it seems as if he wants more from you than just knowing he ruined you," Stan said, already feeling the anger sprout up as he thought about Woolley hitting on his wife.

"He's not getting anything else from me," Karen muttered, rolling over to face her husband. "What the hell does he want with me anyway? He hated me in high school and he tries to take over your company now and then he tries to hit on me? I'm only slightly confused right now."

"I don't understand it either, but I guess I should tell you to be careful around him since I'm not sure of his intentions towards you," Stan said, rubbing his palm up and down her back, feeling her lean into the soothing touch.

"You don't have to tell me twice, honey," Karen said, smiling slightly as she closed her eyes again.

Stan leaned over her, kissing her lips softly, "Good, but I meant it. I know you hate me for telling you the obvious, but I worry about you."

"I know you do, honey, but I'll be fine. At least, I'll be fine as soon as I can get some sleep," Karen said, covering her mouth as a yawn escaped her.

Stan laughed, falling silent as he felt her breathing even out almost immediately, signaling how tired she really was. He loosened his hold slightly on her and leaned back, eager to get some sleep of his own. He probably wouldn't have admitted it to Karen, but he had been up most of the night as well worrying about her, even though he knew she was safe at Will and Grace's apartment. He couldn't help but worry about Karen when he knew she had been upset the previous night and they had spent almost a day apart. He had forgotten about loosening his hold and tightened his arm around Karen's waist once more, loving the feeling of her in his arms once more. 


	7. Part 7

Part 7 'When I touch the ground I come full circle, to my place and I am home…'

"Honey, sorry I'm late. Wait a minute, no, I'm not. Why do I say things I don't mean? It demeans us both," Karen said, running into Grace's office. She looked at Grace an sighed. "Honey, you look so pretty in that dress-- okay, there I go again." She paused, laughing. "I can't stop."

Grace eyed her oddly as Karen made her way to her desk, "Karen, no more coming in late. This restaurant could be huge for us. We both need to be at the top of our game." She pointed towards Karen's desk, "Now I want you to open up that pill box, and throw out anything yellow, green or orange."

"No orange? Honey, that's my hormone pill. There's no telling what could grow back," Karen replied, looking worried as she briefly touched throat and then her crotch before looking back to Grace.

Grace sighed in frustration and looked down as her cell phone rang. She took a deep breath and picked it up, glancing at Karen, "It's our new client."

She cleared her throat and pressed a button, turning on the phone, "Hello? Yes, I'm very excited about the job. The whole staff is." She paused, looking up and pulling away slightly from the phone. "Uh, Charles, you can go ahead and distribute those memos. Uh, Dana, tell your department I'll be postponing the presentation in Conference Room B. Don't give me that look!"

Karen's brow furrowed in confusion as she paused from looking in the mirror to glancing around the office and then down by her feet.

"Sure, I'm coming right over. Looking forward to meeting you. Okay," Grace said, hanging up the phone.

"Good Lord, honey. You have lost it. Charles and Dana? They haven't worked here in months! Sheesh…" Karen said, looking affronted that Grace had forgotten such an important detail as she headed back to her desk.

Grace shook her head, grabbing her purse and portfolio and heading for the door, "Karen, I need you to hold down the fort."

Karen sighed, sitting at her desk, and grabbing her nail file, "Well, I did it at the Alamo, I can do it here."

She concentrated on her nails for a few seconds, singing quietly to herself in the painfully quiet room. She ran the file over one nail and lifted her hand up, inspecting her work as she continued on another nail.

"Hello, Karen."

Karen sighed, looking towards the door and nearly groaned as she stood up, coming to stand in front of the service elevator, "Scott Woolley."

"Yes. Oh, you're so wise to remember the name of your sworn enemy," Woolley said, smiling smugly at the woman in front of him.

"Actually, you've got a dry cleaning tag hanging off your shirt," Karen said, amused, as she pointed to the tag, which Woolley found and removed quickly. "Well... I didn't think I would see you again after your voyeuristic intentions in my bedroom yesterday. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I just dropped by to see how my campaign to destroy your life is progressing," Woolley replied, gesturing at her and looking her up and down.

Karen turned to look at him, looking aghast, "What? What are you talking about? Now unless you've come here to deliver a baby, get out of here, you big stork!"

Woolley laughed, "Maybe you've been wondering who's been calling your voice mail and hanging up."

"Voice mail? I don't even know what that is. How can you mail a voice? You're even crazier than you are tall and birdlike," Karen said, once again looking confused.

"Yeah, but that's nothing compared to the final phase of my second plan to ruin your life," Woolley said, "I tried in high school and failed and soon your company will be mine."

"Yeah, well, I hope it's better than your first plan because that one sucked! Other than 'Let's beat Bush by running another mopey stiff with a horse face,' that was the worst plan I've ever heard!" Karen yelled, getting mad. She was sick of seeing Woolley everywhere she went; he seemed to pop up at the worst possible moment.

"Except this one's going to work. And when it does, I finally get to break out my bottle of 1954 Salon le Menuille, the world's most expensive champagne, which I've been saving for the moment when I finally bring you down. Ciao. And when next you see me, you're going to be crying bitter tears," Woolley said, laughing.

He headed to the door and exited, only to poke his head back in a moment later, "Do I need a key for the men's room?"

Karen rolled her eyes and grabbed the key off the desk, tossing it to him before going back to filing her nails.

--- --- ---

Grace looked around the empty room, visions swimming through her head of how she could decorate the new restaurant. Without knowing what the owner wanted, it was hard to come up with a visual, but she already had her own ideas that she could present to him if he needed an idea.

A man came down the stairs from behind her and pointed to a place on the floor, "He's ready for you. Wait here."

Grace stood up, moving to the place the man had indicated and watched the man retreat back up the stairs. She turned to look at an egg-shaped chair, shocked to see it moving and when she saw it turn and a man sitting in it, she screamed in surprise.

"I'm sorry. Miss Adler?" the man asked.

"Oh, you must be Mr. Osment," Grace said pleasantly, not recognizing Karen's nemesis, Scott Woolley.

"Please call me Haley Joel," the man said, smiling at her.

"Haley Joel Osment? Like the kid," Grace said, amused.

"Uh, yes...I was named after him. My parents were big fans. Big fans," Woolley said, managing to keep a straight face as he looked up at Grace.

Grace opened her mouth to reply, but cut herself short, still thinking about what he had said and confusing herself even more as she still thought about it.

"Anyway, let's look at those design plans," Woolley said, cutting off her thoughts.

"Oh, I don't have the plans. We're really not at that stage yet," Grace said apologetically, clutching her portfolio tighter in her hands and stepped back at Woolley stepped out of the chair. She was surprised when he stood several inches over her.

"But your office assured me that you'd be bringing them. That woman told me-- oh, boy, now I'm not going to remember her name. Um, Klaybin, Klaron, Karbin…" he trailed off, looking at Grace to fill in a name he already knew.

"Karen?" Grace supplied, waiting for Woolley to make his point.

"Yeah, oh, yes, iKaren/i," Woolley reaffirmed, shaking his head sadly.

"She promised that I'd be bringing plans?" Grace asked.

"Yes, she absolutely did," Woolley answered.

"Oh, I apologize for the misunderstanding," Grace said, holding her hands up, "She may have misunderstood you and thought you were asking about my portfolio."

"Well, it's just ridiculous. How're you going to do the job if you can't even handle your own assistant? I think you should fire her."

"I-I can't fire her. It would be like cutting off my arm. My drunk, useless arm," Grace said thoughtfully, smiling slightly.

Woolley shook his head, heading up the stairs and pausing at the top, turning to face Grace, "Do you want this job?"

"Of course, I do."

"Then fire Karen Walker," he said, disappearing up the second set of stairs.

Grace watched him go and frowned, knowing she could never fire her best friend. What puzzled her the most was how the man suddenly knew Karen's full name without even asking. Karen was well known throughout New York for being married to Stan, but it still confused Grace every time someone knew her best friend.

She sighed and made her way out of the building, heading back to her office.

--- --- ---

"I don't know what you're talking about, honey. Nobody named Osment called, and I never promised nobody nothin', ya hear?" Karen said quickly, feigning a bad "mafia" accent and flicking her eyes around the room.

"Look, he gave me an ultimatum. He said I either fire you or I lose the job. And he was talking about opening these restaurants all over the country. I mean, I could be the designer of Woolley's Revenges everywhere," Grace said desperately, walking over to Karen's desk.

"Woolley's Revenge?" Karen asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"I know, bad name. I go straight to diarrhea," Grace said, grimacing.

Karen stood up, following Grace as she crossed the room, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Honey, this guy that you're working for, describe him to me."

"Oh, I don't know. Really tall, long-limbed, attractive," Grace replied, looking confused.

Karen sighed, "Kind of like a big sexy whooping crane?"

"Now that you say it, yeah," Grace said cautiously, hardly having enough patience to see where her friend was going with this.

"I knew it. It's the same guy!" Karen shouted, pausing. "Oh, no. Wait a minute, my guy's name is Scott Woolley, not Osment. Okay, forget it." She laughed, heading back over to her desk.

Grace stared after her, her mouth open in shock as she really her Mr. Osment was actually Scott Woolley. She closed her eyes, trying to think of a perfect plan before it came to her and she grinned, turning to Karen.

--- --- ---

"Miss Adler. I can only assume that this means that you've fired Karen Walker," Woolley said, inquiring as to why she would return to see him.

"I did, but I'd really rather not talk about it. It's just too upsetting," Grace said softly, lowering her eyes to look at her portfolio on the table.

"Oh, yes. No, I understand. So how did she take it? Maybe not well?" Woolley asked, turning his back to Grace as he brought a hand to his mouth, trying to cover the grin and escaping laughter.

"She was devastated. She said that that job was the most important thing to her in the world," Grace replied.

"Go on, go on. Keep going, don't mind me. I may close my eyes a little bit, go ahead," Woolley said, smiling and gesturing at her to continue as his eyes slipped shut.

"After that, she became violent. I had to have her arrested. Then when the police where shoving her into the squad car, they accidentally ripped her ear off. They were going to try and put it back on, but a dog ran up and ate it," Grace explained, her face expressionless.

"Wow, that sounds like her life is ruined. Does it sound like that to you?" Woolley asked, his voice becoming more excited by the second.

"It does, but to Karen it only sounds half as bad because she only has one ear," Grace said, her voice trailing off, sounding as she would start crying at any moment.

"I feel…" Woolley trailed off, laughing, "Just awful. Oh, you know what a sad occasion like this calls for? A glass of 1954 Salon le Menuille. The world's most expensive champagne."

He headed over to a table and pulled out his bottle of champagne, pouring himself a glass, "I've waited so long for this moment. No champagne will ever taste as sweet." He took a sip, spitting it out before he could swallow it. "It tastes like cat pee!"

Grace watched in amusement as the same egg chair Woolley had scared her in the first time she had visited rolled across the room and turned, revealing Karen sitting inside it, holding a fluffy, white cat in her arms.

"That's because it is," Karen said, smirking and exchanging a look with Grace.

--- --- ---

Grace had just left the building, it seemed, when she was heading directly back in, having forgotten her portfolio. As soon as she came down the stairs and turned to go down the second set, she nearly ran into Scoot Woolley, who was sobbing at the bottom of them.

"Excuse me," Grace said, stepping by him.

"Oh, yes," Woolley said, looking up at her.

"I don't mean to bother you during your…man cry, but I forgot my portfolio," she explained, picking it up off the table and moving to leave once more.

"Um, hold me," Woolley said, holding out his arms to her, which she stared at like they were foreign.

"Hold you? No, I'm not going to hold you. You tried to destroy my best friend. And you wasted my time on some bogus design job," Grace accused, looking down at him.

"Oh, no, Grace, I was always going to pay you. Here's your check," he said, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a check, handing it to her.

She took it and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around him, "Come to mamala."

"I'm--I'm pathetic. What if I can never defeat Karen Walker, then what's the point of my whole life?" he asked sadly, staring off to an invisible point in front of him.

Grace pulled away from him, "Oh, don't talk like that. You are smart, good-looking, rich. Don't waste all your energy on Karen. Just let it go."

"I can't!" he exclaimed, sighing deeply. "She's all I think about. I imagine what she's doing every moment of every day. I look for her in crowds. I listen for her voice. When I'm pulling a pineapple cake out of the oven, I'm thinking, 'Is she doing the same thing?'"

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you had a little crush on her," Grace said, standing up and looking at him.

Woolley looked pained, "No, I just told you. I hate her. She's evil and monstrous and cold."

"And sexy?" Grace suggested.

"So hunkin' sexy," Woolley said, without missing a beat. "Oh my God in heaven. You may be right. I think I-- I do have a little-- a little crush on her."

"See, now you don't have to devote your entire life to ruining her," Grace said happily, smiling slightly.

"Oh, you're sure right. Thank you. Thank you, Grace. Gee, you freed me. Now I can devote my entire life to...making her my girlfriend," Woolley said, chattering excitedly as he made an exit at the top of the stairs.

"She's married, remember?" Grace called, groaning when she didn't receive a reply, "You know, the man whose company you're taking over?" Still more silence. "Oh, yeah. Karen's going to love this."

--- --- ---

"Wow, look at this place," Jack commented, entering Grace's office with Will right behind him.

Every available surface was covered with roses and various gifts, including parts of the floor, where larger bouquets of roses stood, since there was no space on any table or desk anymore.

"Someone either has an admirer or they just won the Kentucky Derby. And Grace's legs iare/i spattered with mud," Will said, looking at her legs and ignoring the dirty look he received from his best friend.

"Who's all this from? And why are they sending you imen's/i clothes?" Jack asked, draping a fur coat around his shoulders and wiggling his hands under it.

"Wait, these aren't all from Scott Woolley?" Will said, reading a card from a bouquet of flowers before looking over at Karen. "He does realize you're married, right?"

"Yeah, my former nemesis is in love with me," Karen said, laughing in disbelief. "It just keeps happening. First Anita Bryant, now this guy. Well, I said the same thing to him I said to Anita: 'Squeeze your own oranges!'" She paused. "Besides... I met someone."

"Really? And does Stan know about him?" Will asked.

"Tell us," Jack said excitedly.

"Yes, we met online. We've been exchanging messages for a few weeks, and he's funny and charming and...he says he's fat," she said, giggling excitedly, "iReally fat/i! The best part is, it's Stan and he knows it's me responding. It's sort of a little roleplaying to give us some fun."

"I don't know, Karen. You have to be careful. You can't trust people you meet on the Internet. I went on a date with this guy I met online, and he seemed really nice, but at the end of the evening, I stole $200 from his wallet," Jack said sadly.

"Jack, she met her husband online," Grace said, loosing patience when Jack simply stared at her. "You know, Karen, it's quite exciting to meet people online, even if it is Stan responding."

"It is. Stan denies it being him, but I know it is. Well...I guess we'll find out soon enough. I invited him out to Shelter Island to our country club's annual Valentine's Day dance. I'll know him because he's going to be wearing a green string around his wrist. I'll just see if Stan wears a green string around his wrist and then we'll see if he's my date," Karen said, bouncing slightly in anticipation.

"Yeah, because you wouldn't want to walk up to the wrong fat man," Will quipped.

--- --- ---

"It's a shame Grace had work to do tonight. She could've had a lot of fun here," Jack said as he, Will, and Karen walked into the country club.

Will shrugged, "She just hates to get dressed up. She once said it isn't worth getting dressed up for only a few hours. And then she threw her wedding photo out of the window."

"Oh, I wonder if my date is here yet," Karen said, looking around. "Stan even said he would arrive late because of some business. He knew if he came with us I would know it was him right away." She paused, looking around the room at the various people. "Oh, my God. Check out the chunk of a hunk in the black suit with the big, white smile. Oh, I know that's him."

"Karen, that's a piano," Will said, amused.

Karen squinted, looking in the same direction and sighed when she realized she wasn't looking at her husband.

"Where the hell are all the queers you promised us, Karen?! God, even the waiters are straight. It's unnatural," Jack said, annoyed.

"Oh, honey. Black, white, gay, straight, what's the difference? We all finish ourselves off in the end anyway," Karen said calmly.

"That's lovely. I'd almost forgotten it was Valentine's Day," Will said, grinning at Karen as he placed a hand on her lower back, rubbing it in circles softly before she wandered off and he turned to Jack, "Jack, be patient. It could still happen. The next guy you see could turn out to be Mr. Right."

"Well, well, well…"

"Or maybe not," Will said, smiling slightly as he led Jack to the bar.

"Why, Beverley Leslie," Karen acknowledged, looking exasperated with the shorter man.

"Karen Walker. It just breaks my heart that you don't have a partner for the spotlight dance. How ever will you lead it without a partner? Such a pity a bottle of rum can't waltz," Beverley said, feigning sadness as he waved to an acquaintance a few feet away.

"Actually, I do have a date. Yes, I was just on my way to meet him by the punch bowl. Or, as you would call it, the swimming hole," Karen replied, tossing her hair and flouncing off in the opposite direction.

She had only been there for five minutes before she ran over to Will and Jack beside the bar, "Oh, my G-dash-D. You'll never guess who's here!"

"Greg Evigan from TV's "BJ and the Bear," and then, after a brief hiatus, "My Two Dads"?" Jack gasped, looking around wildly.

"You know," Will started thoughtfully, "I never realized just how gay both those titles are. It's a wonder he didn't go on to star in 'Hey, Faggot!'"

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Pay attention! It's that long-limbed lothario, Scott Woolley. Look at him over there, fingering my date," Karen said quickly, sparing a quick glance in the man's direction. "When Stan finds him here, he is going to flip. He already had to throw him out of the mansion once and when he finds out that man is in love with me…"

"You should go talk to him, Kare, and tell him to leave. If all else fails, get security to throw him out," Jack said, taking Karen's hand.

"For once in his life, he's right," Will said.

Karen sighed before taking a deep breath and nodding, heading over to Woolley, "What the hell are you doing here? Now, you listen to me, Woolley! I'm married! You and me are never going happen-- Never! You hear me?! Get the hell out of here before my date arrives!"

"Oh. Oh, you got a date. Where exactly does your husband play into this date?" Woolley asked, looking somewhat sad.

"Yes, I do have a date and my husband is no concern of yours," Karen spat.

"An enormous date, right? Uh, 400 pounds, but moves like 380?" Woolley asked.

"That's right," Karen confessed cautiously, wondering what his game was.

"Loves midnight snacks on the beach, horseback eating, and, uh...will be wearing a green string around his wrist?" Woolley asked, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a green string wrapped around his wrist.

Karen sighed, closing her eyes in frustration, "iYou're/i ElevatorHazard at groaned aloud and yanked her arm away when Woolley began to reach for it, "I can't believe this. You really should be leaving before Stan arrives and you won't know what hit you."

"So our date is over?" Woolley asked cheekily.

"We never had a date. I thought it was my husband I was talking to online and I said things only he should have read," she hissed, gasping when she realized what exactly she had written in those emails. She had only thought those letters were going to be read by her husband's eyes and she felt herself blush when she realized Woolley had read each and every word she had written.

She shook her head, ignoring him as she went across the room, and nearly ran into Jack since she wasn't watching where she was going. Jack steadied her and noticed her averted eyes and upset look.

"Kare, what happened?" he asked.

"How could I be so stupid? I should've known it wasn't Stan I was talking to online," she practically yelled, although not many people noticed over the music and general chatter of the room.

"What are you talking about? Stan wasn't the one you were talking to online?" Jack asked, confused.

"No, it wasn't him. It was Scott Woolley pretending to be him. I can't believe how he could do this to me. My God, Jackie, the things I wrote in those letters…" she trailed off, fearing she was getting too upset over something so simple.

"You know he would try anything to get to you. He's already trying to take over Stan's company and now he's after you. He doesn't play nice and resorts to dirty tricks all the time," Jack said, having heard the story about Woolley trying to trick Grace.

"I've had enough of that man. I just wish Stan would get here," Karen said sadly, leaving Jack and heading to the bar, where she found no one around.

"Where's the bartender?" she called, thinking he had gone into the back.

Beverley popped up in front of her, seemingly out of nowhere, scaring her as she looked down at him from where she was perched on a stool.

"Why, Karen, it's been an hour, and there's still no sign of your date…or your husband," Beverley said, raising an eyebrow at Karen.

"What are you implying, Beverley Leslie? That I lied, that I'm just vamping until I think of my next move? Just trying to fill time by saying meaningless words-- knickknack, lamp shade, hullabaloo, soft shell crab," Karen said, her brain kicking into high gear as a million thoughts went through her head. She had too many things to worry about without Beverley adding to the mix.

"Well, I hope your beau shows, because if that spotlight finds you all alone, my business associate, Benji, and I will be forced to laugh," Beverley said, smiling and waving to a man standing in the back of the room behind Karen. "Roll back and forth on the floor and laugh and just clutch each other and roll and laugh. Talk about business…"

"Listen, Seed of Chucky, why don't you just leave me alone?!" Karen yelled, tired of having to fight off ignorant men.

"Why don't you make me?" Beverley taunted.

"I'll make you."

Beverley and Karen turned at the unexpected voice and Karen grinned as she saw Stan coming through the curtain that separated the back room from the bar. She was relieved to see him already losing his patience and she knew he wouldn't give Beverley much of a chance to stick around.

Stan grabbed Beverley by the back of his jacket, hauling in on top of the bar as Beverley yelled, looking up at Stan, frightened.

"I am quite low on patience right now, Beverley. If you bother my wife one more time, I'm going to rip out your tiny arms and give them to her on a charm bracelet. That would make a wonderful anniversary present, don't you think?" Stan said, smiling innocently.

"Honey, no one's ever offered to dismember a dwarf and make jewelry out of him for me before," Karen said, touched.

Stan let go of Beverley and the smaller man landed on the floor behind the bar. He got up as quick as he could and ran to Benji, who immediately wrapped him in a hug.

Stan shook his head, turning to Karen, "I'm sorry I'm late, sweetheart, but I can already tell this night isn't going to turn out well. I saw Scott Woolley on my way in here."

Karen sighed, looking up at him as he took her hand, "I had something to do with that. I was talking to him online and invited him here tonight."

"You did what?" Stan asked, surprised.

"It wasn't on purpose. I thought he was you. He was saying everything you would say to me. I thought it was you roleplaying or something and he said he was going to be wearing a green string around his wrist. I thought that's why you had me go before you," Karen said sadly.

"Darling, if I want to roleplay, if will be in our bedroom and not online," he said, smiling at how put out she looked, but unable to resist her pout, leaned over and kissed her. "I'm sorry, Karen. What has you so upset then?"

"When I thought it was you, I wrote several letters and emailed them. Stan, when I thought only you would see those letters, I took advantage of that. He saw those letters when only you should have," Karen said, biting her bottom lip and stopped before she could seriously ruin her flawless makeup.

"It doesn't matter what he got to see as long as I'm the only one who gets to see and touch the real thing," Stan said, lifting their joined hands and kissing her palm softly.

Karen finally cracked a smile, "Honey, you know just what to say. I think you'll be rewarded for that when we get home tonight."

"Karen, you've made me the happiest man on the face of the earth," Stan said, grinning like a little boy who just found a stash of candy.

"Oh, honey, that's exactly what Anita Bryant said," Karen said, giggling, leaving Stan completely confused when she wandered off once more.

An hour later, as everyone was seated at their respective tables where they had had dinner or at the bar, Karen and Stan sat at their table, glad that Will and Jack had been kept busy with two dancing sisters. It gave them a chance to spend some time by themselves, even if the whole night had been mostly a disaster. It had started with Scott Woolley showing up, but it hadn't stopped there, as someone had stepped on Karen's dress, causing her to spill her drink and another woman to slip on the spilled liquid. It took everything in Karen to keep from laughing at the irony of all of it.

Now safely in their seats and Woolley and Beverley no where in sight, the couple found themselves welcoming the quiet moment they so rarely got. Karen was kept busy with her newest martini as she leaned against Stan, who was finishing off his pie from his dinner. He had an arm resting along the back of Karen's chair as she stared off into space, her martini perched between two fingers. He watched her expressionless face for a moment before grinning, a thought coming to mind.

"Karen," he called softly.

Karen turned to look at him and she tilted her head, watching him curiously as he dipped his finger into the whipped cream from his pie and brought it to her lips. She gave him a devilish smile before flicking her tongue out to wipe across his finger before drawing the tip into her mouth, sucking on it softly before letting it go, looking completely innocent.

He laughed, pulling her closer and into a passionate kiss, tasting the whipped cream mixed with alcohol as he kissed her, curling his hand around the back of her neck, glad she had decided to wear her hair up that night. Had it been down he knew he would've already been hearing her complaining about him messing it up.

He pulled back from her, but moved his mouth around to her ear, biting softly, "And you said you weren't into exhibitionism? You little minx."

"You have no idea, honey," she purred back, pulling him back into another steamy kiss, moaning softly as he nipped at her bottom lip, sending shivers through her body.

Stan lowered his hand from the back of her chair to slide down her back and around to her hip, trying to go lower, which didn't work so well with her long dress, even if it did practically have a slit up to her waist.

She whimpered into his mouth pulling away when she spotted Will sitting down across from them out of the corner of her eye. She knew they wouldn't be able to go much farther sitting there at the table and she didn't want to get worked up and then left hanging, so to speak.

"Let me guess," Karen said, trying to catch her breath as she looked at Will, "you find our show of heterosexual love revolting?"

Will grinned at her, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, "Of course not. I find you two very sweet and I'm glad things are all right between you again."

"Good to know, honey, but don't tell Jack that," Karen said, leaning back against Stan as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I could have your attention," Beverley called out of the microphone, effectively clearing the dance floor. "All right, everyone, it's time for the traditional spotlight dance, with our very own Mr. and Mrs. Walker."

"Okay, honey, we're up! Come on!" Karen exclaimed, standing up.

Stan stood and extended a hand and Karen took it and a spotlight shined on them as they made their way to the dance floor. Karen had just stepped up onto the slick hardwood floor when Stan spun her, causing her to nearly lose her balance in her heels, but to bystanders, she looked as if she landed gracefully in his arms as he caught her.

"Don't forget I'm in three-inch heels," she murmured, grinning when Stan shot her an annoyed look.

"How could I forget? If you didn't have them on, you'd be lucky to reach my waist," Stan replied innocently, twirling Karen before bringing her back into his arms.

"You've never complained before," Karen purred, as they spun around the dance floor.

"Never talk with your mouth full," Stan quipped, earning a smack from Karen on his chest as she erupted into laughter.

"Don't make me laugh. People are going to think I'm drunk when I've only had seven martinis," Karen said, winking when she locked eyes with Jack across the room.

Stan's hand slipped from her waist around to the small of her back, pressing her closer to him and he inhaled, smelling her perfume as she tucked her head under his chin. He twirled them quickly and moved forwards, feeling Karen's hand gripping his shoulder tightly as he dipped her, stealing a kiss as he leaned forward to meet her halfway.

The music faded out and they were met with a round of applause as he set her firmly on her feet. The spotlight dimmed and disappeared before the music started up again and they were joined by other couples as the spotlight dance ended.

Stan led Karen back to their table, but he almost tripped over her as she stopped suddenly, looking back at him, "What's the matter with you?"

"Scott Woolley is still looking at me," Karen said, shivering, "God, that man gives me the creeps. He's been watching me all night."

Stan followed her line of vision and found Woolley watching his wife intently, much in the same way he had in their bedroom only a few days prior. He now had no doubt Woolley wanted his wife and even if she hadn't told him the story about talking online he would have seen it anyway.

"Do you want me to get security to kick him out?" Stan asked, placing a hand on Karen's back and urging her forward to their table once more.

"No, I don't want to cause a scene," Karen said.

He nodded before he did a double take and turned back to her, raising an eyebrow, "You don't want to cause a scene? Are you sure you're my wife? What did you do to her?"

"No, I just don't want to deal with him," Karen said, sighing as she sat down at the table across from Will and Jack.

"Deal with who?" Will asked.

"Scott Woolley. I suggested having him kicked out, but she won't let me," Stan said, sitting beside his wife, noticing how she tried to ignore the stare of the man on the other side of the room.

"We'll keep you entertained, Kare," Jack said, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

Karen smiled at him, crossing her legs, "Thanks, honey, but wouldn't you rather go over there and poke Scott in the eye or something? Maybe step on his foot and throw my stilettos at him?"

Jack laughed, "I'd love to, Karebear, but then security would probably throw me out."

"Speaking of which, Stan, your meeting will be tomorrow afternoon with Scott Woolley so he can present his plan to your board and hopefully he won't get very far," Will said, looking between Karen and Stan.

"Good to know," Stan muttered, glancing over at Woolley once more before looking back to his table's occupants.

"Stan, can we just go? I really don't feel like spending the rest of the night dodging Woolley's looks at me," Karen said softly, frowning.

Stan nodded, standing up and extending a hand to Karen, helping her up before draping her wrap around her, "Of course, sweetheart. Our dance is over and we're under no obligation to stay any longer." He turned to Will and Jack, "Do you two want to come with us or go home on your own later?"

Will and Jack exchanged a look before Jack turned to Stan and a tired looking Karen, "We'll go with you. There really isn't anything left to amuse us after you leave."

The four left and after Stan had signaled for his limo, they were on their way back to their respective homes. 


	8. Part 8

bPart 8/b i'You only see what your eyes want to see, how can life be what you want it to be…'/i

"Are you nervous about the meeting today?" Will asked over the phone, leaning it between his ear and shoulder as he tried typing on his laptop at the same time. There was nothing wrong with multitasking, Will thought.

"Yeah, but probably not for the reasons you think," Stan said, sighing softly. "I'm more worried about Karen being in the same room as Scott. He really got to her last night and she would be staying at home if it weren't half her company."

"She would be better off at home, but she needs to be there," Will stressed, knowing Stan might try to leave her behind for her own benefit.

"I know, Will, but I'm worried about her. Scott seemed to hate her and wanted revenge, but somewhere along the way he managed to fall for her and it seems he'll stop at nothing to get her," Stan said reluctantly.

"Grace told me what happened. Apparently she talked to him and he mentioned something about thinking about Karen constantly and Grace suggested he might have a crush on her. She said she wasn't trying to put ideas in his head, she honestly thought he might have fallen for her and he agreed with her," Will explained.

Stan groaned and Will could hear clicking sounds coming from the line. He grinned when he realized Stan was also typing, just as he was. It was a miracle the two of them even managed to have time to talk on the phone, given their busy schedules. It was a good thing they knew how to hold a phone with their shoulder.

"Wonderful. I hate him for even thinking he has a chance with Karen," Stan said, sighing again. "I have to go, Will. Karen is out with Jack right now, but she's due back any second and then I'm taking her out to lunch before the meeting. I figured a dozen martinis might calm her down and give me a chance to calm myself down. If I know her as well as I do, she'll be panicking throughout the meeting just by having to see Scott. He must have some effect on her because no one has ever affected her like this guy."

Will nodded, stopping himself when he realized Stan couldn't see him, "That's fine. I'll meet you there since I take it you and Karen will be leaving directly from wherever you're having lunch?"

"Right. I'll see you there," Stan said, hanging up.

He sighed, stretching as he stood up and closed his laptop, making sure he had everything packed away in his briefcase before he picked it up and headed downstairs. He really hoped he had time to take Karen to lunch; he had a feeling she was going to be out with Jack later than she had said.

As the thought left his mind, the front door of the mansion opened and Karen breezed in with several bags on her arm, Jack right behind her.

"Nothing calms me down more than shopping," Karen said happily after spotting Stan.

"And nothing gets me more excited than seeing that gold card of yours being swiped every five seconds at a new store," Jack said wistfully, placing his bags beside the door and slipping his coat off.

"Well, if you haven't shopped me into debt, we have to go to lunch if we're ever going to get to the meeting on time," Stan said, looking at Karen.

Karen nodded, "Sure, honey." She turned to Jack. "Poodle, do you want Driver to drop you off at home before he head to lunch?"

"Actually, could you drop me by Grace's office? With you two and Will at lunch, we've decided to go to lunch for the first time ever," Jack said, grimacing slightly.

"Oh, honey, she's not that bad. I would just watch your fingers if you try to grab for seconds because she won't hesitate in ripping those fingers off. Other than that, have a great time," Karen chirped, smiling sweetly at Jack's scowl.

"Okay, guys, let's get a move on. Jack, grab your bags and Karen, grab your…liquor and let's go," Stan said, trying to hurry them back through the door they had just come through.

Karen and Stan had their driver drop off Jack at Grace's office before they headed for a small, but quite expensive café that Karen loved and Stan loved to take her to. They were seated right away, being regulars and rich, and Stan found himself hungrier than he thought as he glanced over the menu.

"I already know what I want," Karen said happily, setting her menu on the edge of the table.

"You are getting more than a martini, Karebear," Stan ordered, seeing Karen's pout, "I know you only like to come here because it's the only café in twenty miles that even serves martinis, but you're going to order something to eat. I don't care what you order with it, but please order something that is considered solid."

Karen sighed and picked up her menu once more, scanning it quickly, not even that hungry. She was too worried and nervous about the meeting and she felt her stomach doing somersaults in anticipation of both how the meeting was going to end up and how she had to see Scott Woolley. The last thing she ever wanted to do was see him again. She would have rather swam in a public pool for a few hours than have that sorry excuse for a man hit on her again.

"What are you going to get?" Stan asked, not looking up at her.

She shrugged, "I have no idea, honey. You sort of killed my idea for a liquid lunch."

Stan grinned at her, ordering two glasses of the café's best wine for both of them, as well as a martini for Karen, "Whether you would like to believe it not, sweetheart, you cannot live on alcohol and skip food for the rest of your life. It's a wonder you don't constantly lose weight and disappear on me."

Karen watched him for a moment before scrunching up her face distastefully, "Are you calling me fat?"

Stan gave her an incredulous look, "How the hell did you get that from what I said?"

She ignored him, poking herself in the side, "I hate my love handles. Who came up with that expression? Love handles? Nobody iloves/i having them."

"Darling, you don't have love handles, believe me. You have curves that any sexy woman should have," Stan reassured.

She waved a hand at him and Stan sighed, picking up a paper from a nearby counter and flipped through it, his eyebrows raising as he read, "Apparently there's a cat burglar in New York. I hope he doesn't get to this area."

"Even if he did get to our mansion, it wouldn't matter. We don't have any cats for him to steal," Karen commented offhandedly, waving over a waiter.

Stan shook his head as he waited for his wife to order and gave the waiter his own waiter. He made sure the waiter was gone before turning back to his wife, seeing her trademark clueless expression firmly in place.

"Sweetheart, a cat burglar doesn't steal cats, so relax. Don't have a cow," he said.

She scoffed, "We don't have any cows either."

Stan felt like slamming his head against the nearest wall after the completely useless conversation with his wife, "Karen, have you got any more remarkably unuseful thoughts that you're just dying to share?"

"Of course not, honey," Karen said immediately, fishing out her compact and checking her hair and makeup in the small mirror.

Stan watched her for a moment, grinning to himself as the waiter placed their food in front of them. It never amazed him how good the service was at the small café, even though he suspected they bent over backwards for him because he was a regular and often tipped the staff several times the normal amount so he could dine in peace, whether he was with Karen or there on a business meeting.

He picked up his fork, not surprised to see Karen picking at her food, which looked to have been some sort of shrimp salad, "Kare, try to eat something. You barely touched your dinner last night either."

"I'm sorry, but I'm so nervous I can't eat anything," Karen said, chewing slowly on a piece of shrimp before putting her fork down, which clanked loudly against the plate. "How can you not be nervous? Your company is at stake and you're so calm about it."

"I am nervous, but I'm not going to let myself show it. The moment I show it, Scott Woolley will see it and use it to his advantage and win. I'm confident he won't take my company and if I keep thinking that, it will definitely help," Stan explained.

Karen smiled slightly, picking up her fork once more and poking at the lettuce, "You're right, honey, but I can't seem to calm down. I despise Woolley for trying to get revenge against me and involving you in this. I hate him suddenly wanting…me and now he won't leave us alone. I hate this!"

Stan knew he agreed with her, but he stayed silent, focusing on his lunch and how much she ate, surprised when she even got through half of her salad before pushing it away.

Their next stop was Walker, Inc.'s board room, where they found Will waiting outside of the room, pacing back and forth and looking like he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, just as Karen and Stan hadn't. He turned suddenly and gave a weak smile at seeing the couple arriving hand in hand.

"Good to see both of you here and in one piece. I thought for sure you would have been late," Will said, trying to relax them all some by resorting to their usual humor and sarcasm.

"You can thank Karen for that one. She decided not to eat and stick only to her martini, but I suppose that really wasn't surprising," Stan said, exaggeratedly rolling his eyes.

Karen giggled and Will and Stan exchanged a glance over her head, having accomplished their goal in getting Karen and themselves to release some tension. The tension would be doubled as soon at they stepped foot inside the board room and had to listen to Woolley's pitch to the board.

"Is Scott here yet?" Karen asked, biting the inside of her cheek.

"He is. He's waiting down the hall, like I suggested. Lord knows he wasn't going to stay in that room alone with the board and I didn't want to stick around or he'd try to strike up a conversation. That is the last thing I'd like to do with him right now," Will said, sighing. "I'm going to go get him and we can start this…disaster."

Will disappeared down the hall as Stan and Karen watched him. Stan placed a hand on the small of Karen's back, rubbing circles against the clingy material of her shirt and he felt her take a deep breath under his hand.

They were silent for a moment and when Stan felt her breathing hitch, he looked up and saw Will coming down the hallway, Woolley right behind him and looking quite happy as he had a visible bounce in his step.

"Mr. Walker, Karen," Woolley greeted with an almost leering smile directed at Karen.

She had to grit her teeth as she and Stan followed Will and Woolley into the board room, seeing their entire board seated and looking at the newcomers expectantly.

"Mr. Woolley, if you'd like to begin," Will said, gesturing to the other man.

"Thank you very much," Woolley said, turning to the table. "Ladies and gentlemen of the board, Walker, Inc. is in a shambles. And the ones to blame for that are Karen and Stanley Walker. His tenure as CEO has been marred by mismanagement, corporate malfeasance-- And in one instance, uh, public drunkeness at the Central Park Zoo, courtesy of his wife?"

"Hey! That goat stole my flask. What was I supposed to do, not punch it?" Karen yelled, letting her emotions get the best of her.

Stan held her back when she took a step towards the other man, glaring daggers at him as she allowed herself to be pulled back by her husband, taking a deep breath to try to calm herself once more.

"Yeah, I'd like to call for an immediate vote," Woolley said, looking around the table at the board members.

Will held up a hand, stepping forward, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down there, Captain Slick. It's easy to tear somebody down, but where is your plan? I have yet to see any evidence that you have a vision for this company." He paused as two men came in, each carrying several binders. "Who are these men with these notebooks that say "Vision" on them?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have before you now my 100 point plan for the revitalization of Walker Inc.," Woolley said as the men passed the notebooks out, one to each board member.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I've got a 102-point plan. 103, if you're lucky…" Karen muttered, glancing down at her chest briefly before looking up at her husband, seeing slight amusement in his eyes despite their situation.

--- --- ---

"Well, thank you, everyone. I trust that what I've shown you today will help you to make an informed decision about the future of Walker, Inc.," Stan said, reclaiming his seat beside his wife and Will.

"Very impressive presentation, Mr. Walker," Woolley said before turning to Karen, "I hadn't seen them in a while. They still look like a tenth grader's."

Karen giggled, "That's because they are. Shh!"

One of the board members, Charlotte, Stan remembered, raised her hand slightly, looking between Stan and Woolley, "Thank you both. If you could just give us a minute to vote?"

Will, Karen, Stan, and Woolley stood off to the side as the board members gestured wildly and whispered quietly to each other.

"Uh, I'm afraid your efforts aren't going to make any difference. I'm still going to win. I stomped your client back into the Ice Age. After today, they're going to be calling me i'The Scotty Mammoth'/i," Woolley said smugly, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at Karen and then over to Will.

"Why wouldn't you just say 'iWoolley mam/i--' Oh, never mind," Will said, exasperated, turning to look out the window.

"We have taken a vote," another board member, Clive, announced, "We've decided to go with...Scott Woolley."

"Yes! Ha!" Karen exclaimed, grinning proudly.

Stan placed a hand on her arm, shaking her head, "Sweetheart, that's not us."

"Uh, Karen? I was worried that after all these years my revenge would empty and hollow. But-- I was wrong. It's awesome!" Woolley said, laughing. "I'm going to start moving into your husband's office. So now it's your turn to cry, to wet yourself a little, and, get beaten up by the marching band. Not that any of those things happened to me."

He left the room and Will immediately turned to Karen and Stan, "Guys, this is not over. Sure he has brains and his fancy folders and all we've got is--is your breasts. But--" Will stopped, sighing, "Yeah, this is probably over."

Karen smiled slightly, looking over at Stan briefly, "That's sweet of you to say, Wilma, but I'm just going say good-bye to the board."

"Karen--"

"No, Stan, this was my fault. I need to do this," Karen said softly, turning towards the table. "I--I'm sorry, everybody. I just-- I just wanted to say that-- Well, I'm a little hurt. I mean, I-- I really thought that we were a family. Clive... I was there for the birth of your cocaine habit."

Clive brought a hand to his mouth, looking away from his now former boss in embarrassment.

"Watching it grow over these past eight years. I've never been prouder," Karen continued. "And Jim. Oh, gosh. I remember the third anniversary of your S&M affair with old Charlotte here."

Charlotte slunk down into her chair as Will and Stan fought to keep from laughing, despite the hugely serious scene taking place in front of their eyes.

Karen smiled slightly at the memories, "Never told either of your spouses. Because that's what family does. They keep secrets. Secrets that I am no longer under any obligation to keep. Well, like at last year's executive retreat, when Lynette and I--"

Lynette pulled away, raising her hand, "I'd like to vote again."

"Me too," Jim said as the other board members raised their hands to be included.

Stan and Karen wore identical masks of shock on their faces as Will stepped forward, looking hopeful, "All in favor of Stanley Walker, say 'I.'"

"I," the board chorused.

"All opposed?" Will asked.

No one said a word and Karen gasped and grinned, jumping up and down as she realized what she had done. Stan laughed and caught her in a hug, lifting her off her feet and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Woolley reentered the room, grinning happily, "Man. That is one sweet office that you had, Stanley. Although I might replace the omelet station with a-- oh, I don't know-- a icomputer/i."

"Sorry, Scott. The board has reconsidered. Mr. Walker is once again the president of Walker, Inc.," Will said, gesturing to the man beside him.

"What? Why?" Woolley asked, panicked.

"Don't tell him," Lynette demanded, standing up from the table and heading to leave, the rest of the board members following her.

"No, no, no! You can't do that. Those--those folders were expensive. Why? Why?" Woolley called to the exiting members, his eyes widening as he realized everything had went wrong.

"Well, it looks like it's time for you to go back where you came from. Beam me up, Woolley!" Will quipped, laughing at his own joke.

"This is not over. Maybe I didn't get your company, but I'm going get you. I don't know how, I don't know when. I'm not going to lie you. I put a lot of eggs in this basket... But I promise, you have not seen the last of me. And the next time you see me, you will be terrified!" Woolley threatened, backing out of the door and closing the door behind him.

Karen, Stan, and Will exchanged a look before the door opened a few seconds later and Woolley came back through, looking around the carpeted floor.

"Did I lose my keys?" Woolley asked, before spotting them on a table and leaving the room again.

Karen sighed, watching after him as she felt Stan's arm come around her waist, "Will he be back?"

"I don't know, sweetheart, but if he does, he still won't get very far," Stan reassured, turning her to face him and kissing her softly before turning to face Will. "What can I say, but thank you, Will. You really helped us get through this."

"I really do think you have to thank Karen for this one. Who knew her manipulative skills would help you keep your company," Will teased, smiling sweetly when Karen turned a half-hearted glare on him.

"He's right, Karebear. If it wasn't for you just now, Woolley would have kept the vote and I would have lost my company," Stan said, grinning when he saw Karen blushing slightly, something he hadn't seen in a long time.

"That wasn't even what I was trying to do," Karen admitted, giggling. "I really was just saying good-bye to them. They surprised me as much as they did you."

"Listen, guys, I think we should do something to celebrate. Have any ideas?" Will asked.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm starving," Karen said, running a hand over her stomach.

Stan groaned, "And this is why I told you to eat in the café. I knew you would be hungry, which wouldn't have happened if you had eaten."

"And I told you I was too nervous to eat. Things are okay now and so am I. I need something to eat and you know, another martini wouldn't hurt me either. Two hours is too long to go without any alcohol whatsoever," Karen rambled, heading for the door.

Will laughed, "I'll take the both of you out for lunch for a company well won."

"Good luck. By the time Karen gets done, that bill will be higher than…my credit card bills," Stan joked, heading after his wife, Will directly behind him.

--- --- ---

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Me? There's something wrong with you!"

"Damn it!"

"Go to hell!"

"Hey! Watch your language!" Karen yelled, watching her two stepchildren fighting yet again about something she wasn't even sure mattered.

"Karen, why did you think it would be okay to bring your stepchildren to work with you?" Grace asked, already looking frazzled at the children's constant fighting and disrupting her work.

"Because I was out of choices, honey," Karen said, putting her nail file down, "Apparently it's some school holiday, so they have the day off. Their mother, and I use that term loosely, is working, as Stan is. Rosario's sick in bed and Jack offered to take them for the day, but yeah…"

"Maybe you should let Jack take them. They love him and he can take them to the zoo for the day so I can get some work done and you can…do whatever it is you do over there," Grace suggested, looking hopeful.

Karen nodded, shaking her nail file in the direction of Grace, "You know, that is a good idea, honey. They do love Jack because he spoils them rotten. Can you imagine someone ever being that spoiled?"

Grace snorted as she tried to keep her laughter at bay, "It's amazing, isn't it?"

Karen giggled, picking up the phone and dialing Jack's number quickly, seriously hoping he would be able to take the children off her hands for the day.

Grace sighed, barely listening to Karen's conversation as she watched the children out of the corner of her eye. The two had been a nuisance all day, but even more so then as they were running out of things to do in the small workspace. Mason had been mostly calm, seeming to keep himself entertained with drawing with one of Grace's extra sketchpads and his stepmother's colored pencils. He only seemed to act up when his sister, Olivia, egged him on and purposely started fights.

It had been awhile since Grace had seen the kids and she was shocked to see how much Olivia resembled Karen. Not in appearance obviously, but in her mannerisms. During the first hour after Karen had showed up, Olivia threw a tantrum about something Grace couldn't remember, but the little girl had stood her ground and placed her hands on hips, eerily reminding Grace of Karen at that moment. The little girl also seemed to rely on her brash exterior and sarcasm to get her way, another of Karen's characteristics.

"He's coming straight here, which is better than coming here straight, " Karen announced, laughing and hanging up the phone, which rang not a second later, frightening her. "Grace Adler Designs."

"Hello, Karen. Let me talk to Grace," Will said from the other end.

Karen scoffed, "What, no proper greeting, Wilma? You really need to get some manners, honey. It's very un-lady like of you."

Will sighed, "Can you please just put Grace on the phone? I really don't feel like talking in circles with you today."

Karen giggled, "Coming right up, honey." She moved the phone away from her ear, pressing a button and putting the receiver down, "Grace, your husband is on line two."

Grace shook her head and reached for the phone while Karen went back to filing her nails, ignoring Olivia and Mason fighting over the green colored pencil. She pulled her hand back to inspect her work and when she was satisfied, she grabbed for her latest martini, downing a large gulp before biting into an olive.

"Hey, Kare!" Jack called, coming into the office as she jumped for the second time that day.

"Hi, Poodle," she replied, grinning at him while noticing his shirt. "Honey, why are you wearing that shirt? It's…pink…and it has ruffles."

"It's not pink. It's lightish red," Jack said proudly, not commenting on the fact that it still had ruffles. "I just got done shopping. I have a date coming over tonight and I'm going to cook him dinner. I bought a hot pink tablecloth and really cute salt and pepper shakers that look like old Coke bottles."

"Wow. Hello homo, gay much?" Karen asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Jack frowned at her, "I'll only let that pass because I know your upset by Olivia and Mason being here. Plus, I don't want to use bad words around your kids."

"Step kids, honey. You think I actually gave birth to those two? Giving birth is like trying to fit a basketball through a rubber doughnut. Can you imagine having to do that twice in one lifetime? No wonder Cathy is such a bitch," Karen commented, grimacing.

"Uncle Jack!" Olivia yelled, launching herself into his arms.

Jack laughed, picking up the little girl, "Well, hello there, princess. Have you been behaving today?"

"Of course," she chirped happily, not noticing when Karen snorted in disagreement.

"Hi, Uncle Jack!" Mason said, coming over to hug him. "Why are you here?"

"I'm taking the both of you to the zoo to see the animals," Jack said, laughing when both of the kids yelled their appreciation, much to annoyance of both Grace and Karen. "All right, guys, let's go."

"Here, honey," Karen said, handing Jack a credit card, "Try not to get them everything they ask for, okay? Stan has already been trying to teach them not to be spoiled, which isn't going too well. I don't need you to add to that." She looked to the kids, who were watching them with excited eyes. "Be good, kiddies, and if you cause Jack any problems, I won't hesitate in telling your father all about it."

Both nodded in unison, staying silent as Jack kissed Karen's cheek, waved at Grace, and left the office hand in hand with each of them.

"It's amazing how good of parents you and Stan actually are," Grace commented, having ended her call with Will a few minutes prior, "Any other rich parents would completely spoil their kids and not set any rules or guidelines, but you two are different. I know you don't let them get away with much and Stan is constantly on them about having manners and telling them to appreciate everything."

Karen frowned, "I just don't put up with their tantrums or crying and eventually after they're ignored long enough, they start to behave. I'm not sure if that's considered good parenting and I don't care, as long as they leave me alone for awhile. Plus, Stan has his hands full enough with me to worry about his kids acting up."

"You can't have everything, Karen. Where would you put it? Another mansion?" Grace asked, grinning at her friend.

"So many men, so few who can afford me," Karen giggled, "Actually, only one can afford me and I married him."

Grace shook her head and looked down at her sketch, which had hardly been started, "All stressed out and no one to choke, except for maybe you, but I have a feeling you would fight back."

Karen scoffed, "You really need to be nicer to people, honey."

"I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter," Grace said, grinning at Karen's raised eyebrow, "Do not start with me. You will not win."

Karen flipped her off, much to Grace's amusement, and reached for her current Vogue magazine, ignoring the phone as it began ringing again. She vaguely registered Grace answering it and ending the call pretty quickly, but she was too lost in her magazine and her thoughts to know for sure.

Of course, she snapped to attention and nearly jumped out of her chair when the door flung open and Will breezed through, slamming it behind him, "Good morning, ladies, and I use that term very loosely."

"I wish people would stop doing that," Karen muttered, sending Will a completely fake smile. "Good morning, Wilma! Tell me something, honey. I got a call this morning from the NYPD about a restraining order on your behalf. What's this all about?"

"Restraining order? Someone doesn't like you much, do they, Karen?" Grace teased, looking at Will. "Who put one out against her?"

"Not one against her, one for her. Stan called this morning and we set up a restraining order against Scott Woolley. He can't come within five hundred feet of you, Karen," Will explained.

Karen nodded, "That's sweet, honey, but how will it help now? He's gone."

"Yes, but if he ever returns, you can keep him away from you," Will said, taking a seat on a stool beside Grace.

"Good idea. He may decide to return one day, thinking you wouldn't be prepared," Grace said, trying to continue on her sketch for the third time that morning. She had a feeling she wasn't going to get far with her work if the way her day started off was any indication.

"It is, I guess. Thanks, Wilma," Karen said, giving him a genuine smile this time, which he returned before sneaking a look at Grace's latest creation.

"Hey, did you ever finish the bedroom of that guy who was getting married?" he asked.

"Yeah, but barely. I finished it while he was getting married and they saw it when they got home from their honeymoon and he loved it. He paid me doubled what he discussed and apologized for being a total asshole," Grace said proudly.

Will nodded, glancing over to Karen, "Karen, why exactly are you still here? I thought you'd be at lunch with Jack by now."

Karen shrugged, "He took the kiddies to the zoo so they wouldn't have to stay here and harass us. Stan can't leave the office today since he's backed up on his work so I'm sort of on my own for today."

"Well, come on, I'll take you to lunch. Grace, do you want to join us?" Will asked, standing up.

"No, not today. I'm also behind. I'll grab something later. Karen, when do you think you'll be back? No, never mind, why did I ask that?" Grace said, not noticing the odd looks she was getting from her friends as she carried on her own monologue.

"Yeah, anyway, Karen, where do you want to go?" Will asked, helping her into her fur coat as they stood by the door.

"Don't treat me any differently than you would the Queen," she commented, giggling. "Oh, honey, I don't care, as long as they have alcohol."

"That narrows it down. You know, you really should quit drinking so much. You're preserving yourself well," Will said, raising an eyebrow.

"At least I have a positive attitude about my destructive habits," Karen chirped as they headed out of the door and down to the bottom floor of the building to head out to lunch. 


	9. Part 9

bPart 9/b i'Say good-bye to not knowing how to cry, you taught me that…'/i

"I need some help, honey," Karen called, squinting as she stared at the computer screen in front of her. Why Stan felt the urge to teach her how to use it was beyond her. She was doing just fine with her cell phone at the moment and didn't need any other modern day electronics to confuse her.

"Of course you do, sweetheart," Stan said softly, coming up behind her and bending down to see the screen, laughing when he finally did. "Why are you in a porn site?"

"I'm not sure," Karen admitted, looking genuinely puzzled. "I just clicked to open the email and this popped up. I can't get rid of it."

Stan took the mouse, moving it to click the small 'X' in the corner, effectively shutting the window and returning Karen to her inbox window, which she seemed stunned to see again, "Was that really that hard to figure out?"

"Stan, I told you before that I don't know how to work a computer--" Karen stopped herself as the webpage seemed to disappear again. "Ah...I see the fuck-up fairy has visited us again. I didn't touch anything, honey, I swear."

"Please don't make me kill you," Stan pleaded, sighing as he reached for the mouse again. "Okay, apparently I forgot to set you up for no pop-ups, so if I change your settings, you should be fine."

"Sorry if I looked interested. I'm not," Karen said flippantly. "Honey, you said you'd be patient with me if I agreed to let you teach me, but now I can see that was a blatant lie."

"I'm sorry, Kare, but I'm used to dealing with people who at least know how to get to their email. Even Olivia and Mason know how to work a common computer," Stan replied, trying to defend himself, even though he knew he was being a bit hard on Karen.

"Yes, but this isn't a common computer. This is the laptop you spent thousands of dollars on so it could last you a long time, you could take it to work, and so you could have the best and newest technology. Believe me, a simple computer is not…this thing," Karen ranted, touching the keyboard with the tip of her fingernail.

Stan sighed, "All right, I apologize. Do you think I could leave you alone for a little while to go see where my kids have wandered off to and if Kathy has already been by to pick them up?"

"Go on, honey. Believe me, I'm going nowhere fast here," Karen deadpanned as she poked at the keys experimentally.

She finally gave up on trying to open her email and ventured off onto the internet, just as Stan had showed her. She typed an address into the blank space and was amazed when a search engine came up, this time without any pop-up ads to stop her. Maybe it was as easy as her husband kept telling her.

She continued on for another ten minutes, not really going anywhere as she tried to navigate the internet, but eventually gave up and closed the laptop, standing up and stretching. She had a feeling it just wasn't meant for her to learn about anything electronic.

She moved to leave the office when the door flung open and she was forced to jump back or be hit. She took a deep breath to calm herself and prepared to yell at Stan before she looked up and her planned argument fled her mind in record speed. She was standing face to face with Scott Woolley.

"How did you get in here?" she asked immediately.

"Your maids weren't really paying attention and it's a really bad idea to leave your front door unlocked when you live in a mansion in New York," Woolley said, narrowing his eyes on Karen and moving closer to her.

Karen stepped back, still trying to figure out what to do, "Get away from me before I call the police for breaking in and even coming near me."

Woolley laughed, closing the door behind him, "Oh, I know all about the restraining order, Karen, and I have to say that hurts. You don't trust me?"

"I trust you about as much as I'd trust Grace to make a good fashion statement," Karen replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

Woolley laughed and Karen knew it was fake as soon as he opened his mouth, "Well, aren't you just the funniest thing ever? I just came to talk to you. Is that such a crime?"

"You did not just come to talk. You could have just called if you wanted to talk," Karen said, slowly backing away as Woolley came closer to her.

She felt herself back into the desk and she took a moment to look up at Woolley and saw his expression; something wasn't right. She opened her mouth to tell him to back off or scream for help, she wasn't sure which, but she never got the chance as he rushed forward, grabbing her tightly. She tried to scream, but his hand immediately covered her mouth, and she panicked, feeling one of his arms around her waist and his fingers slowly inching under her shirt.

"Listen to me very carefully, Karen, and you can make this easy on yourself," Woolley whispered beside her ear, "I fought for your husband's company, but even if I had won, that wasn't the true prize. The thing I wanted all along was you."

Karen gritted her teeth, wanting to make a sarcastic remark about her not being a prize or a ithing/i, but his hand tightened over her mouth and she found every hope of possibly talking or yelling for help go down the drain. She couldn't believe she didn't try to scream as soon as she saw him; Rosario or Stan could have heard her and prevented this whole situation.

Her breathing hitched as she felt his free hand slip down her leg and to where her skirt started and push it up slightly, bringing it up her leg. Her head was swimming as she realized his intentions and she fought back against him, not really caring what happened, just as long as she got away.

"Stop," Woolley hissed, yelping when she bit his hand.

She grimaced, not knowing where that hand had been, but not caring. She managed to slip from his grasp and ran for the door, but she didn't get far as she opened the door and Woolley slammed it, pinning her against it.

"Get the hell off of me!" Karen yelled, pushing against him as he reached behind her for the zipper of her skirt.

"And here I thought you were such a whore you'd give it up to anyone who asked," Woolley muttered under his breath, finally grabbing Karen's wrists in one hand and pinning them above her head. "I told you this would be easy if you cooperated, but I guess not."

Karen thought frantically, mentally smacking herself when she realized he had forgotten to cover her mouth this time. She took full advantage of that as she screamed as loud as she could, startling Woolley and making him step back slightly and cringing at the volume.

She reached for the doorknob behind her and twisted it, but Woolley regained his hold of her, pulling her away from the door and trying to cover her mouth again, should she scream again. She brought the heel of her stiletto down on his foot, trying to get to the door. He yelped, but didn't let go and she knew she'd have to try a new strategy if she wanted to get out of the office. This time, she brought her leg up and back, trying to aim a kick to his groin, but she missed and he used the opportunity to turn her to face him and cut off her next scream as he kissed her hard.

He backed her up to the desk and with her wrists in one hand, he used his free hand to clear the desk of papers and the laptop and lifted her up onto it, making sure to keep her knees away from any of his vital body parts.

He broke away from the kiss and reached for the buttons on her shirt, finally looking down at her, not surprised to see her staring back at him with her signature glare, her lips parted as she tried to regain control of her breathing.

"You won't get away with this," Karen snarled, knowing that was a promise she could keep.

"Yes, I will, baby, and you know it," Woolley taunted, "I don't turn you on?"

Karen wanted to wipe the smirk off his face and tell him to stop sounding like a bad Austin Powers movie, but she bit her tongue, "The only person who turns me on is my husband."

"We'll just have to fix that," he said, leaning down to catch her lips in a rough kiss once more.

He felt her hands moving, trying to free her wrists, but he tightened his grip and heard her whimper in pain into his mouth. He ran his hand over her still clothed breast and she gasped in surprise, which he used to his advantage as he deepened the kiss.

He vaguely registered the office door opening in the back of his mind and failed to react as he was too busy being wrapped up in Karen and her body against his. He broke away from the kiss and finally turned, paling when he saw Stan standing there, a mixture of confusion and anger on his face.

Stan looked past Woolley for the moment and to his wife and her appearance. He took in her disheveled hair, swollen lips, her partially unbuttoned shirt, and her heavy breathing and he didn't have to ask what had happened. She still struggled in Woolley's grasp and Stan moved his attention back Woolley.

"Let go of her now," he growled, stepping forward.

Woolley did as he told and back away from both Karen and Stan as he slowly inched his way towards the door.

"Don't bother to try to get away," Stan called to him, heading to his wife's side, "The police are already here and waiting downstairs."

As he finished speaking, the door opened again, revealing Rosario and two police officers, who immediately were beside Woolley and placing him in handcuffs.

Karen hurriedly held the sides of her shirt together, knowing she wouldn't be able to button it back up when her hands were shaking so badly.

"We came as soon as you called, Mr. Walker, but why are we arresting this man?" one of the police officers asked, knowing to come as soon as they were called by one of New York's richest men, but not knowing why.

"Well, let's start with the violation of my wife's restraining order against him, stating he must stay at least five hundred feet away from her at all times," Stan started, sending a look of pure hatred in Woolley's direction. "You can also add breaking and entering and attempted rape to that."

"We thank you, Mr. Walker, and express out deepest apologies," the same officer said. "If she's up to it, we'd appreciate if your wife could provide us with a statement at the station at a later time."

The police left with Woolley in tow before Stan turned to Karen, who was still holding her shirt and she had her eyes closed, her face turned down and away from him.

"Karen?" he asked softly, not surprised when she ignored him. "Sweetheart, look at me, please."

Karen's eyes opened, but she didn't look at him as she glanced down to her blouse, moving her fingers to try to redo the buttons, but she didn't get too far as her fingers started shaking again and she gave up, jumping in shock and fright as Stan reached for the buttons and finished securing them for her.

Stan reached a hand out to her, pausing and leaving it hanging in mid-air as he debated whether or not to touch his wife, but then lowered it to her arm, not surprised when she cringed slightly, "Karen?"

"Oh my God," she whispered, her voice sounding strained.

She finally looked up and Stan found himself shocked at the haunted look in the depth of her dark eyes. She blinked and before Stan could react, tears slipped down her cheeks and she brought her hands to her face, trying to calm herself, but only making herself cry harder.

Stan brought her into his arms, relieved when she didn't pull away and simply accepted the contact, burying her face in his chest and allowing the sobs to overtake her petite form. Stan held tightly to her, running a hand through her lose hair, not even trying to calm her down; he knew she needed to get everything out.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry," Stan whispered.

Karen pulled away slightly, clearing her cheeks of fallen tears and streaked mascara, "It wasn't your fault. That was why I screamed. I knew someone would hear me. What if he--he had…"

"But he didn't, Karen. You're okay and he's going to be put away in jail for a very long time," Stan reassured, cupping Karen's face in his hands, and wiping away fresh tears as they fell from Karen's eyes.

Karen searched his eyes for something she wasn't sure she was looking for, "The whole time, the only thing I could think about was you and if you would be mad at me because this happened."

"Sweetheart, no, why would I be mad at you? This wasn't your fault at all," Stan said softly.

Karen smiled slightly, "I love you, Stan."

"I love you too, sweetheart, so much," Stan murmured, pulling her into his arms once more.

--- --- ---

"He did what?!" Will yelled, pausing with his hand in mid-air, a folder still dangling from it.

"I don't know how he got in," Stan said, leaning back in his chair. "I was downstairs and I heard Karen scream. I ran to the phone to call the cops, not even caring if it was a false alarm if she was just being overdramatic. The call lasted all of half a minute before I raced upstairs and found him holding her. It didn't look like he had gotten far; the first few buttons on her shirt had been undone."

Will shook his head in disbelief, "I can't believe this. She was so nervous around him and when he left, she was…happy. When I took her to lunch yesterday, we didn't fight like cats and dogs, like usual. She was joking with me and constantly laughing and it was wonderful to see, even if she was her usual sarcastic self."

"She should be fine hopefully. She seemed okay this morning. I can only imagine how she would be if he actually…got further," Stan said, not being able to continue. He wasn't sure what he would have done if Woolley had actually gotten a lot further with his wife.

"I take it she's at home then and not with Grace?" Will asked.

Stan nodded, "We were up pretty late last night talking, crying, laughing, and whatever else we could do. I think it helped for her to talk about it. She was still asleep when I left and I knew she wouldn't be going to work."

"I'll call Grace later on and let her know. Karen isn't even due in for another three hours anyway," Will said, smiling slightly.

Stan laughed, glad for a distraction, "I'm hoping to make her forget for tonight. I have something planned for her and I hope it goes well."

"Even if it doesn't, she'll still love it," Will said.

"That's what I'm hoping," Stan said.

--- --- ---

Karen sighed, staring at the front door of the mansion. She shivered slightly in the cold air and rain and brought her wrap tighter around her shoulders, turning the knob and stepping inside, immediately feeling the warmth of the mansion surrounding her and making her shiver again at the change in temperature. She was going to kill Stan for making her do this while it was raining.

She had been more than confused when Stan had handed her a credit card and told her to buy a new fancy dress and get her hair and makeup done. She agreed, thinking they were going to another party or formal function, but it was too late to be going to one and Stan had assured her it would be worth her time.

She sighed again, slipping her wrap off her shoulders and draping it across a table in the entryway before turning to glance around, not seeing any sign of anyone. She moved towards the stairs and she looked down, smiling when she saw flower petals, both of red and white roses, going up the stairs. She followed them in curiosity, reaching the top of the stairs and seeing them went down the hallway and led straight to her and Stan's master bedroom.

She walked slowly there, her heels clunking softly on the wooden floors as she got closer, seeing light seeping from below the door. She reached for the knob and opened the door, pushing it open and gasping at what she saw.

The rose petals continued into the room and out to their balcony, where a table was set up with what looked like wine and dinner. Candles lined the bedroom, giving the dark room a dull glow that cast dramatic shadows on the walls. On the two end tables by the bed, a dozen roses sat on each, as well two wedding photos Karen hadn't laid eyes on years.

She felt tears fill her eyes and she blinked rapidly, not allowing herself to cry anymore. She had done enough of that the night before and she knew Stan had intended this night to be happy.

"Are you enjoying the view?"

She jumped slightly and turned to see Stan standing beside her vanity, his hand trailing over the top of the chair as he made his way over to her.

"Oh, Stan, I love it," she breathed.

"And I love you," Stan said. "You look amazing."

He looked her over and smiled appreciatively. She had chosen a strapless black silk dress and Stan grinned as he saw the slit on the side which practically went up to her waist. He recognized her earrings at the ones he had given her for her birthday, but her necklace, a small diamond heart, he had never seen before and he figured she must have picked it up while she got her dress. Her hair was curled and pinned up halfway, two curls framing her face.

"I'd hope so. It took me forever to get ready at Will's apartment. Grace had so many things on the counter, I couldn't find the sink, so I had to use his bathroom," Karen said, grimacing.

Stan laughed, wrapping an arm around her waist and drawing her closer to him, "You'd look beautiful no matter what you're wearing…or not wearing."

Karen giggled, slapping his chest playfully, "You just did this to get me into bed, mister."

He shrugged, smirking, "Of course, darling." He paused, taking Karen's hand. "Come on, love. We have dinner and wine waiting for us."

"Honey, it's freezing out here!" Karen protested, pulling against Stan's grip on her hand.

Stan turned to look at her, smiling slightly, "Which is why I've had the fireplace going for a few hours now and the table is right in front of it. You'll be fine, I promise."

Karen pouted before she finally nodded, allowing Stan to lead her to their balcony, surprised when she didn't feel the slightest bit cold. The fireplace really did work, even though the balcony was out in the open, but the roaring fire seemed to warm the area, much to Karen's joy and relief.

"I can't believe you did this for me, honey," Karen said softly, looking up at her husband.

Stan smiled down at her, "Sweetheart, I would do anything for you and you know it. If I could do something to erase last night, you know I would. I hate to see you in pain and I just wish last night wouldn't have happened."

Karen lowered her eyes from Stan's, sighing softly, "Me too, Stan, but it happened. I have to get on with my life, no matter how much that bastard hurt me. I have to wonder now if every man I meet will want to hurt me like that. He made me pull away from my best friend. It hurt so bad to see the betrayal in Jack's eyes when I did it, but I couldn't help my reflexes."

Stan noticed his wife's reluctance to meet his eyes and placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him, "Kare, you don't think I'd…"

Karen shook her head, looking pained, "Oh God, Stan, no. Never you. I know you could never hurt me, but because of what happened, I have to wonder if it will happen again to me."

"Sweetheart, I can't promise that I'll always be there to protect you because I didn't keep that promise last night, but you can't know what will happen tomorrow or a year from now. You just have to have faith it won't," Stan said, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug, his hands sliding over silk as he rested his hands on her hips.

"I know," she said sadly, pulling away from him. "How about we start dinner?"

"How about a dance first?" Stan asked, reaching for a remote on the table and pressing a button, flooding the balcony with music. He held out his hand and she placed hers in his, giggling softly as he twirled her and brought her into his arms.

iSwaying room as the music starts Strangers making the most of the dark Two by two their bodies become one/i

They moved slowly to the music, Stan savoring the feel of silk under his fingers as he tightened his hold on Karen, smiling at her when she looked up at him. He raised a hand up and moved a stray piece of hair from her face, watching in amazement as Karen smiled shyly and looked away in almost childlike behavior.

iI see you through the smoky air Can't you feel the weight of my stare You're so close but still a world away/i

He watched her carefully, not letting her slip into thought for very long as they swayed to the music. He knew if she thought, she would be upset again and he wouldn't allow that; the night had been going too well for that to happen.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"You," she answered simply, barely heard over the pouring rain.

iI'm crazy for you Touch me once and you'll know it's true I never wanted anyone like this It's all brand new, you'll feel it in my kiss I'm crazy for you, crazy for you/i

"I don't see how anyone can hurt you and live with themselves after that. You're a beautiful, sexy, vibrant woman who deserves to be worshipped, not broken down," Stan said, moving a hand from her waist to cup her cheek.

She finally looked up at him and her eyes shined in the darkness as they filled with tears once more. She brought a hand up over her mouth as she fought to keep the tears from falling.

iTrying hard to control my heart I walk over to where you are Eye to eye we need no words at all/i

"Oh, sweetheart, don't cry. I didn't mean to make you upset," Stan said quickly, pulling her closer to him.

"No, honey, I'm not upset. It's just…what you said…" Karen tried to say, eventually giving up and laughing slightly, shaking her head. "I must look like a mess right now."

"You look perfect," Stan said, kissing her forehead tenderly.

iSlowly now we begin to move Every breath I'm deeper into you Soon we two are standing still in time If you read my mind, you'll see/i

"What did I do to deserve you in life?" Karen asked.

Stan laughed, stopping their movements, despite the music still playing, "Nothing, and that's all you needed to do. I needed to do this tonight to show you how much I love you."

"I already know. It's as much as I love you, honey, if not more," Karen said, blinking back more tears and finally getting herself under control.

"Well, now that we've done the whole lovey-dovey thing, now we can be ourselves: the wonderfully dysfunctional couple everyone knows and loves," Stan teased, poking her in the side.

Karen giggled, dodging his hand when he tried to poke her again, "You are so odd, but it's true. We are dysfunctional and I love it."

"Good to know. No normalcy for us then?" Stan asked, watching the rain for a moment before turning back to her.

"I hope not, honey," Karen whispered softly, leaning her head on his chest and turning to watch the pouring rain with him. 


End file.
